TMNT 2012
by Lunadeath1
Summary: I've been reading quite a lot of TMNT fanfics. So I decided to test the waters with this one. xP
1. Chapter 1

**Rise of the Turtles Part 1**

For the city that never sleeps, the citizens of New York run about on their daily lives. But what they don't know is that there are _others_ living their lives hidden within the shadows. Deep down in the sewers that no human explore, lives a small family. A family of six that are always there for each other.

A rat man, who used to be human, raised four baby turtles. Until the sixth member of their family arrived when the boys were five years old. She was dirty and wounded when she had first met them. Trust did not come easily to her. But after spending time with the family of five, she had slowly started trusting them. She had even started opening herself a little more, showing emotions little by little. This girl's name was Emi Hamato.

~Onto the story!~

It was late afternoon in New York City. Down in the sewers and into an abandoned subway, is a lair that belongs to the Hamato family. They have all gathered together in the dojo for one last training for the day before they can go about the rest of their day.

In the middle of the dojo crouched Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Leonardo. Emi, who was the odd number of not having a partner, was sitting on the sideline, waiting to fight against the finalist.

The first to start the duel was Leonardo versus Michelangelo. They both stood up as they quickly drawn their weapons out. They stared down at each other, assessing, waiting for the first to make a move. When one didn't though, Leo decided to attack, yelling out a battle cry. Smiling, Mikey ran towards him while spinning his nunchucks, "Oh, yeah! Michelangelo is on the move!"

Getting close enough to the orange terrapin, Leo swung his sword at him but he was too slow as Mikey flipped himself over him, now standing behind him. Turning around, he watches as Mikey spun his nunchucks before holding them ready, "You don't know what to do."

Ignoring him, Leo kept attacking while the young terrapin kept dodging his every swing.

"I'm here, I'm there. I could be anywhere."

Mikey's eyes widen when he saw the sword coming down close to his face. Dodging once more, he smiled, "How do you stop what you can't even see?"

Thinking, Leo held the handle of his sword where the blade was pointing behind him. Seeing that he wasn't moving, Michelangelo decided to take that chance to attack. Running, he kept spinning his nunchucks until he was at an arm's length. He got his weapon ready and was about to swing it down on Leo's head, however, he didn't see the older terrapin's weapon.

Leo had taken that chance to hit Mikey in the stomach with the handle of his sword, making him roll a couple of feet away from him. Losing his breath, he fell onto the ground.

"Like that?" said Leo, smirking.

Grunting, Mikey lifted a finger, "Good one, Leo."

Emi's giggle could be heard within the dojo, catching Leo's attention. He looked her way and smile proudly that he made her laugh. She smiled brightly and patted Mikey on his shell, when he made his way to sit next to her, earning herself a hug and a smile in return.

Next turtles to fight were Raphael versus Donatello. Grasping his bo staff from his back, Donnie spun it a few times before getting into an attack position. Seeing as how it was Donnie, Raph cracked his neck before making an agreement, "All right, Donnie. Put down the staff and no one gets hurt."

"Uh, you said that last time, Raph, and then you hurt me," said Donnie, not falling for his brother's words.

Getting in a defensive position, he shrugs, "Yeah, but less than I would have."

"Yeah, right."

The two started to spar. Donnie attacking while Raph kept dodging his every swing. In the end, the purple terrapin got his staff taken away and broken in half. Which is now being held in Raph's hands, a smirk on his face.

"Should've dropped the staff?" he asked, a bit scared of his tempered brother.

"Should've dropped the staff."

Spinning the half's broken staff in his hands, Raph ran and started pounding it on him.

"Okay, okay, ow! I'm down!"

Raph stopped hurting him when he saw Leo stepping into the middle of the room, unsheathing his sword. Donnie took that time to go and sit on the other side of Emi, earning himself a giggle and a pat on his leg. Mikey stuck his tongue out at him before turning back to look at the duel before him. Ignoring him, Donnie smiled at Emi before he too paid attention to the duel.

Both Leo and Raph kneeled on the ground, the former announcing the start of the battle, "Onegaishimasu."

"Whatever you say," said Raph, not one to follow the formal way.

Standing, they both brought their weapons up and pointed it at each other. Without any second thought, any plans, Leo had taken the first initiative and swung his sword. Raph had countered his attack by blocking the sword with his sais. The fight between the two was going pretty well for Leo seeing as how he easily unarmed Raph, leaving him with only one sai left. Thinking that he got the upper hand, he charged with his sword raised above his head. However, Raph had unexpectedly caught him off guard. Making Leo losing the duel and leaving Raph the unexpected win.

Standing over him, Raph smirked, "Nice try." He then turns to look at their female sibling, "Now it's your turn, Emi."

Excited that it was finally her turn, Emi jumped to her feet and exchanged a high-five/three with Leo, who had taken her seat. Standing in the middle of the room, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose before exhaling it slowly through her mouth. Opening her eyes, gold met emerald greens.

Bowing, she did the same as Leo before going on a defensive. She quickly took out her twin tessens and held them. One above her head while the other held near her chest protectively. Smiling, Raph twirled his retrieved sais in his hands, "Don't think I'm going to go easy on you, little sister."

Smirking, she showed a fang, "I don't doubt you will, Raphie."

He grunted at that nickname before charging at her. Patiently waiting until he was at arm's length, Emi swung the arm that held the tessen above her head forward, slapping the sai that was aimed at her, out of his hand. Not giving him enough time to recover from her attack, she took a step forward and spun lightly on her feet, appearing behind him.

His eyes widen at her unexpected tactic and was about to turn around to face her. Except, he didn't see how wide his feet were apart, which gave her the chance to put a foot there and trip the red terrapin down on his front.

Raph groaned when he knew that he lost. He looked up at the giggling girl. Her tail swishes happily behind her as her eyes were bright with laughter and a playful smile on her lips, "Nice try, Raph." Rolling his eyes, he smirked when she mocked his words, that he had said to Leo, back at him.

"Ya Me!"

Looking to see Master Splinter walking into the room, all five siblings walked to sit side-by-side in the middle of the room. Both Leo and Emi bowed respectfully to their father while the other three sat stock still, waiting for their father's words.

"You all did very well," Splinter started.

Raph interrupted before more could be said, "But I did better." Leo looked at him in disbelief while Emi, who was sitting on the other side of Leo, lightly glared at him with a pout.

As he walked around them, Splinter replied, "This is about self-improvement, Raphael. It is not about winning and losing."

"I know, sensei. But I won and they lost," he said cockily until Splinter stopped behind him and pinches him in the neck. "Ah, ah, ah! But what's really important is that we all did our best. Good job, everyone!"

But when Spinter didn't let go, Raph finally said, "And good job to you too, Emi! You're the one who won, not me!"

That finally made the elder man let go of him, Splinter chuckling with his daughter's giggles.

~Dinner time~

Everyone was in the kitchen eating dinner, which was algae and worms. No one complained while they ate. Even though Emi didn't like it, she had learned a very long time ago to accept whatever food that is given and to not complain. Food was quite scarce for them seeing as how none of them could buy any from the surface.

"There's a little more algae and worms left if anyone wants it," said Mikey, trying to see if any one of them wants any seconds. "Anybody? _Anybody_?"

Can't take the food anymore, they, besides Splinter, responded, "No, thanks."

"I'm good."

"All yours."

"No, thank you."

Smiling, Mikey put the pot down before holding something behind his back, "Well, I guess no one left room for..." he brought a green cake which looked really similar to the algae that they were eating and put it in on the table, "cake!"

Surprised, they all looked at it closely, "Whoa!"

"It _is_ a cake!" said Donnie, shock that they actually have one right in front of them.

Raph swiped a finger at the cake and licked it, "Made of... algae... and..." he looks back at the cake when he saw a worm wormed its way out of the top, "worms."

Pointing at it, Leo asked, "What's the frosting made out of?"

Sniffing it, Emi pushed herself a bit away from it, "You don't want to know."

Mikey nodded before shouting in excitement, "Happy Mutation Day!"

Happy, the three brothers shouted, "Happy Mutation Day!"

"Ah, yes," Splinter spoke, catching everyone's attention to him. "Fifteen years ago today, our lives changed forever and we became the unlikeliest of families."

He then chuckles and patted Emi on the head, "And it was also ten years ago today, that you have stumbled upon our family and became a part of it."

Emi smiled with a blush, happy that she was a part of their mutation day.

Mikey put an arm on the table, leaning his head on his hand as he looks up at their father, "Tell us the story, Master Splinter."

"Michelangelo, I have already told it many times."

"Please! Pleeee-mph!"

Raph had come up behind him and quickly put a hand over his mouth, "Please. It's the only way to shut Mikey up."

"Ah, very well," Splinter finally agreed. "Many years ago, when I was still human. I was leaving the pet store with four baby turtles."

"That was us?" Mikey interrupted.

"Yes. Don't interrupt," said Splinter. "I passed a strange man on the street. Something felt off about him. I decided to follow."

He then explains how the strange men he had followed were about to either take him or eliminate him until he had made a decision to fight. He had fought well until the canister that held whatever that was inside broke and spilled all over him. He had dropped the glass bowl that held the turtles in, exposing them to the same mutagen, which turned them to what they are today.

Bringing the same canister up, Splinter continued, "That was the beginning of our life together. It was the mysterious substance in this canister that, in a way, gave birth to us all."

Looking at it, Mikey grabbed it out of his hands and hugged it, "Mom."

The siblings all blinked at his weird action until Mikey shouted in excitement, "Now tell us how we met Emi, Master Splinter!"

They all looked at Emi and Master Splinter, waiting for the story to begin. For some reason, it was always Emi's story on how she came to be with the little family that intrigued them the most.

Humming, Splinter smiled, "I remember it like it was just yesterday."

~Flashback~

Celebrating the boys fifth Mutation Day, Splinter smiled happily down at his sons who were all shouting and playing around in the middle of the living area. With a flicker of his ear, he thought he might've heard something somewhere from the entrance of the lair. Looking over, he stood up from his seat and walked over to it.

When he looked down at both subway tunnels, there was nothing there. Sighing, he put a hand up to his temple and thought that he probably either needed to rest or meditate. He looked back at his sons when he heard them shouting and laughing with each other.

Smiling, he was about to head back to them until he heard the sound again. Looking down at the tunnel, his eyes narrowed while his ears flickered to hear the sound once more. When he heard it again, he was able to make out the sound of sparks. Dreading that the enemy that he had encountered five years ago knew where they were, Splinter quickly made a hasty decision and looked back at his sons.

"Leonardo! Get yourself and your brothers hidden. Quickly!"

Hearing the seriousness in his father's tone, he nodded and started to pull his brothers with him to hide until their father came back to get them. Mikey and Raph protested at first until they saw the seriousness on their father's face, who has turned his attention back down the tunnel. Doing as he said, all four terrapin brothers went to hide together.

Once he knew that they were safe and hidden, Splinter quickly ran down the tunnel to confront whoever it was, truly hoping that it was not the enemy whom he was thinking of. When he arrived at the scene, his hope plummeted down quickly when he saw that it _was_ the same enemies who had turned him into what he is now.

Getting ready to confront them, he made a quick plan on gaining their attention so he could steer them away from the lair. Before he could initiate it though, he noticed that they didn't even see his presence. Their attention was somewhere else.

Observing where they were shooting at, his eyes widen when he saw a little girl who looked no older than his sons, with long white hair and golden eyes, dodging and fighting her way through them. He watched at how she punches the enemies, creating her small fist size hole in the middle of their chests and leaving claw marks on the ones who tried to get near her from behind.

Wait. Claw marks?

He looked at her more closely and saw that she was actually clawing them down. His eyes went to one of the enemies that she had her back turned to and saw that she was about to get shot from behind. Eyes widening, the memory of his beloved wife and daughter flashed in front of his eyes. He ran as quickly as he could and with a raised fist, he shouted, "No!"

The little girl turned around and watched him punch the enemy to the ground. Huffing, Splinter turned to look at the girl to see if she was alright. He sighed in relief when he saw that she was not shot or injured other than the injuries that she already has.

Their attention was taken away from each other when they heard more of the enemies guns being ready to use. Growling, the girl's sclera turned black as her eyes changed from gold to a dark red. Taking a deep breath, she let out a loud roar.

The roar was so loud that Splinter yelled out in pain, falling to his knees as he tried to block the noise out with his hands on his ears.

When she was done, he slowly opened his eyes and turned to look at their enemies. His eyes widen when he saw that every one of the enemies body had burst up in flames with huge claw marks slashed where their body laid.

Looking to see where the girl had went, he saw her on the other side of the room. She held onto one of the enemies head while another was under her foot. With a growl, she instantly crushed them as if they were mere bugs. Walking up to her, Splinter watched the girl closely, wondering what she would do.

He had accidentally kicked one of the enemies arms, creating a loud clatter. She turned her head so fast to him, that if she was a normal human girl, she would've received a pretty bad whiplash. Looking at the little girl, who had taken out all of the enemies down on her own, Splinter could see that her eyes had gone back to normal.

Crouching down so he could be at her eye level, he stared deep into her eyes as she did the same to him. They stared at each other for a while until she blinked and looked away. Seeing that she is not going to harm him, he deemed it safe that she does not see him as an enemy.

"May I ask why they were trying to kill you?"

She looked at him, then at the destroyed enemies, before looking back up at him. "Not kill. Capture," she softly replied.

His eyes narrowed as he hummed, "Do you know why?"

She shook her head. Looking at her for a little bit longer, Splinter noticed that she had white dog ears on her head with a white fluffy tail to match her hair and ears. Putting a hand on her head, he felt her tense before she turned to look at him.

Her eyes narrowed in mistrust at his hand. She didn't know if this demon rat would hurt her like all the other demons and humans so far. But when she looked into his eyes, she saw emotions that no other has ever shown to her before. An emotion that looked like... kindness? She couldn't tell since she has never encountered anyone who had ever looked at her with those kinds of eyes before.

"Do you have anyone to go to little one?"

Looking around her, her ears swiveled a bit when she caught a noise. She looked up at the sewer tunnel that she had come from and couldn't help but thought that she might have seen four big shadows hidden within it. Shaking her head, she looked back at it and saw that it was gone. Thinking that it might've been her eyes playing tricks on her, she turned her attention back to the man, "No. I got no one."

She looked at her surrounding and mumbled, "I've always been alone."

Feeling sympathy, he took his hand off from her head and held it out to her, "Will you come with me?"

She looked down at his offered hand before looking up at him. He continued, "I have four sons who are still waiting for me back home. Today is their Mutation Day and I do not wish to leave them alone for too long."

She looked at him for a bit longer, contemplating his offer. But, there was nothing to really think about. Those men in suits brought her from her world and had taken and brought her here to this world. Even when she's able to find her way back home, there wouldn't really be anyone waiting for her. There will be nothing but a forest filled with animals and demons.

Hesitating, she slowly put her hand in his. She just hoped that she wouldn't regret her decision on being with this rat demon and his sons. Smiling, Splinter brought her close to him and carried her within his arms. He felt her tense at first when he had put his arms around her, but quickly relax.

Checking their surroundings, Splinter made sure that there were no more enemies or no enemies lurking in the shadows before making his way back to the lair. Once he arrived back home, he shouted for his sons, "Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, Michelangelo!"

The little girl's ears twitched when she heard multiple scuffles of feet making their way to them.

"Dad!"

Splinter smiled down at his sons when they all came to hug him. He patted them on the head until Mikey noticed the girl in his arm, "Who's that daddy?"

Crouching down in front of his sons, he put the girl down so she could stand on her own two feet. When she did though, she patted her white kimono of dust before turning to look at the terrapin turtles. She didn't look surprised when she saw them. The only thing she did was a small bow, "Hello."

Now that she was in the light, he noticed that she was wearing a white kimono that had little blue and purple flowers on a branch at the front of her dress with a symbol that he does not recognize on the back of it. He hummed and wondered if she was taken from Japan.

The boys did the same and bowed back, "Hello!"

They then introduced themselves and Mikey was the first to cling to the girl. Uncomfortable, she was trying really hard to get out of his hold but gave up when she noticed that he wouldn't be letting go anytime soon.

"What's your name?" Donnie asked, curious about the new girl.

Staring down at the ground, her ears drooped, "I... don't have one. Was never given one."

The brothers, feeling sorry for her, all looked up at their father, "How about you give her a name Dad?"

Chuckling, Splinter smiled, "I would be honored to give you a name. That is if you wish to have one."

She looked up at him, her eyes shining with a little bit of hope, "Y-you would do that?"

He nodded, "Yes."

Hesitating, she bowed, "Yes, please!"

He chuckled before putting a hand on her shoulder, "There is no need to bow. You may raise your head."

Doing as he said, she blushed as she looked anywhere but at the man. Smiling, he hummed, "How about... Emi?"

"Emi?" she wondered.

"Emi... I like that name!" Leo shouted, a bright smile on his face. The brothers nodded and agreed with their elder brother.

"Emi," she said, rolling it on her tongue. She didn't know what it was. If it was because of her name that she was finally given or if it was something else, but something warm was felt deep within her, making her feel all warm and fuzzy. Looking up at the little family, she smiled, "I love it!"

Splinter couldn't help but smile at Emi's smile. It reminded him so much of his wife's. He wonders if his daughter would have smiled at him like that too if she had lived. Putting a hand on her head, he warmly smiles at her, "Welcome to our home, Emi, my _daughter_."

~End of Flashback~

The terrapin brothers smiled at the memory. That was one of the greatest and most memorable memories to all of them. And to have Emi come into their life on the day of their Mutation Day, made the day that much more precious.

Smiling at the memory, Leo looked at his brothers and Emi. They were all smiling and knew what they wanted to ask. Agreeing with one another just by communicating with their eyes, they all nodded.

"So, Sensei. Now that we're fifteen, I think we're finally ready to go up to the surface, don't you?" Leo asked, hoping that their father would let them go.

"Yes."

They all started cheering, excited to finally go to the surface until their father ruined it, "and no."

Their excitement deflated quickly by his words.

"Oh, man. Come on."

"Lame."

"I hate when he does that."

Emi pouted, "Phooey."

Ignoring their disappointment, Splinter continued, "You have grown powerful, but you are still young." Standing up, he started to walk out of the kitchen, stopping at the door, "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely."

Looking at Emi, whose eyes was still on him, he smiled, "Well, all except one."

Blushing, she rubbed the back of her head, giggling in embarrassment. None of the boys could argue with their Sensei there. Even though the boys and Emi had trained together at the same time, their little sister was always the one who was able to take them down quite easily. Whether if they had gone easy on her or she on them, she would always come out victorious and not boast about it. Whatever weakness that they have, she would always be there to help them to turn their weakness into strength.

Turning back to their father, Donatello asked, "So, Sensei. Isn't that just no?"

"Yes... and no," he replied. Turning to face them, he explained, "Wisdom comes from experience. And experience comes from making mistakes."

"Aha!" said Donnie, before thinking through their father's words. "So in order for us to gain the wisdom, we have to make the mistakes. So we can go."

"No."

"And yes?"

"No!"

Disappointed, he slumped forward in his seat. Emi patted his shell in empathy, receiving a small smile in return. Looking away from them, Leo decided to reason with their father this time, "Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives hiding down here."

Thinking about his words, Splinter looked away from them for a while as he ran a hand on his goatee. He knew how they felt. Yet, even if he were to voice his reason of wishing to keep them hidden. He knew that they will always be curious about the surface as more and more years passed by. Taking a quick glance at his children, he went back to looking at the space in front of him until he took a double look at them.

They were now on their knees, begging him with their puppy eye looks as their hands clasped in front of them. Of course, seeing the boys had no effect on him. Emi, on the other hand. Her eyes were wide with a pleading look. Her ears flattening themselves on her head. Not being able to resist his daughter, he finally gave in, "You may go, tonight."

Hearing his words of permission was like the greatest gift for them. They all started cheering with excitement again. Standing up from the floor, Mikey held his hand up, "High three!" Without any hesitation, they all gave a high three.

Squealing in excitement, Emi jumped up and down, "I'm so excited! I think I'll go and train a little bit more before we head up."

They all smiled at her and nodded. Giving their confirmation to her. Smiling, she made her way out of the kitchen. She was about halfway to the dojo until someone stopped her, "Emi! Wait a sec!"

Turning around to confront them, Emi smiled when she saw Raph jogging up to her.

"Need something, Raph?"

He smirked as they continue their way to the dojo, "We still got plenty of time before we could head to the surface. So how about a bit of sparring before we do?"

Smirking, she flipped her hair, "You sure about that Raphie? I might kick your shell again."

Chuckling, he pounded a fist to his palm, "Oh don't worry. I won't go easy on you this time."

She laughed. When they finally arrived back into the dojo, they didn't see Master Splinter anywhere. Figuring that he was probably in his room, the two siblings took their place in the middle of the room.

Taking out her twin tessens, Emi got into a defensive position like earlier before. Taking out his sais, Raph spun them in his hands before settling himself in a defensive position as well. Assessing one another, they both started to slow steps circling each other. When one of them couldn't find a weakness on the other, Raph had taken the initiative to start the duel first.

He let out a battle cry as he ran at her, sais ready to pierce her. Slowing her breathing, Emi let out a slow breath before closing the tessen by her chest and ran it straight down at the length of the sais. Once they met the handle, Raph was about to twist his sai to get rid her of her weapon. But he was too slow. Emi had reacted that much quicker than he did and gotten rid of his instead.

While she did that, she took a step forward and slid a foot behind one of his foot, tripping him straight on his back. He grunted before looking up at her, who now has a foot on his plastron. She smirked down at him, "Guess I'm still the winner, huh Raphie?"

"Whatever... you..." he slowly said, getting rid of his second weapon without her noticing before latching onto her ankle, "say!"

Emi yelped when Raph pulled on her ankle, making her drop her weapons. She got the wind knocked out of her when she landed harshly on her back. Raph didn't make her breathing any easier seeing as how he got up quickly and was now straddling on top of her, pinning her down on the ground.

He chuckled, "Guess I finally caught you off guard little sister."

She pouted, "Not fair, Raph! You were already down."

"This isn't training. So I see it as fair play," he said, smirking down at her.

Before she could reply, someone clearing their throat caught their attention. Turning to the source, they both saw Leo standing by the entrance of the dojo. He held a frown on his face, his arms crossed in front of him. Emi could've sworn that she saw him glare at Raph before being back to looking sternly.

"Can we help you?" Raph asked, an eyebrow raised.

All he got in response were narrowed eyes from the blue terrapin before he huffed and stomped away. Confused, Emi looked at the red terrapin, "What's wrong with Leo?"

Knowing exactly what was wrong with him, Raph decided to play dumb for his brother's sake and shrug, "Dunno." Facing back down at her, he smirks, "You should be more worried about yourself than Leo, Em."

Rolling her eyes, she twisted her hands in his grip to grasp his wrists and kicked him off her, landing him back on his shell. Flipping herself back on her feet, she offered him a hand, grinning down at him, "Nah. I pretty much can take care of myself. Thanks though big bro."

Grunting, Raph chuckled before accepting her outstretched hand to help him up. Smiling, Emi looked back at where Leo was just standing at. Her smile turned into a frown when she remembered how he had stomped away from them earlier.

Knowing exactly what was on her mind, Raph patted her head, "Don't worry about Leo, Em. He just needs to watch some Space Heroes, in order to be himself again."

Trusting his words, she smiled, "Okay."

"So, what are you going to be doing?"

Picking up their weapons from the ground, she put his sais away on the weapon display before tucking her's away. "I'm gonna stay in here a little bit longer. Gonna meditate," she replied.

Nodding, he smiled, "Alright. We'll come get you before we leave."

Nodding, she smiled and went to sit under the beautifully grown tree and started on her peaceful meditation.

Smiling at her calm look, Raph quietly left the dojo and went towards the living area. There, sitting in front of the television was none other than Leonardo. He was watching Space Heroes as usual, which made Raph roll his eyes at. Picking up his comic, he went to sit on the stairs that led to Donnie's lab. As he was enjoying his comic, it was quickly ruined when the older terrapin started announcing the same monologue as his favorite character on the television.

"Gentlemen, I have a bold and daring plan. There's no time for hesitation. My orders must be carried out without question!"

Rolling his eyes, Raph exasperated made his presence known, "You know this show is stupid, right?"

Turning to look at him, Leo couldn't help but narrow his eyes at him, " _Space Heroes_ is a great show. And Captain Ryan is a great hero. Someday, I am gonna be just like him."

Looking at him over his comic, Raph shrugs and went back to focus on the book in hand, "Well, you do like to hear yourself talk, so you're on your way."

Leo couldn't help but be frustrated at his brothers' words. And then, he remembers what happened in the dojo. Seeing as how none of their brothers were around, and Emi not anywhere at a hearing distance to listen in on their conversation, Leo asked, "Hey, Raph. About what happened earlier between you and Emi in the dojo..."

Raph interrupted him, knowing exactly what he was going to say, "We just spar. That's it."

"Yeah, I know. But the way how you two were earlier..."

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he glared at his brother, "Look, Leo. There's nothing going on between the two of us, okay? I only see Emi as a little sister. Sure she's pretty but that's all I see of her okay?"

Narrowing his eyes, Leo couldn't help but just be insecure about how close his brother was to Emi. He knows that he shouldn't be feeling like this. But he just couldn't help it. Ten years ago when Master Splinter brought Emi into their life, he had developed a small crush on her. At first, he just thought that it might've been a phase so he didn't think much about it. But as the years passed by and he had gotten to know her a little more, he realized that his crush on her had developed quite a lot.

He didn't know what to do about this feeling so the first person whom he confided this in was Raph. He knew that if anyone wouldn't rat his feelings out to the said girl, he knew that the hot-tempered turtle was the right to tell this too. At first, Raph hadn't believed him, but when he saw how serious it was for the blue terrapin, he instantly took this conversation straight to Splinter.

The wise man, when he was told of this, was at a loss for words. He knew that the boys would start to develop crushes, love, and heartbreaks when they were older, but he had not count for them to develop at such a young age. Though he knew that Emi was his adopted daughter, he had not count for one of his sons to fall in love with her. Then again, he guessed he should've known that it might've happened sometime in the near future.

So his only advice for his eldest son was to take things slow and to see if his feelings for her were only that of a sibling love or if it was _actually_ true love. Leo had agreed to his advice, but as the years gone by, his feelings for her were only strengthened.

He groaned and was about to say something else until their other two brothers ran in.

"It's go time!" Mikey shouted.

Excited, the jealousy that Leo held for his brother was pushed aside as they all smiled at each other before running into the dojo to grab their weapons. Emi was standing in the middle of the room when they entered. Master Splinter standing next to her.

When they all grabbed their weapons, they all went to stand near the bottom of the stairs of the turnstiles in a line, waiting for their father's warnings. Splinter went to stand in front of them and looked at each and every one, "You are going up to a strange and hostile world. You must maintain awareness at all times."

Standing up straight, they all replied, "Hai, sensei!" and were about to leave until they were stopped by his words.

"Stay in the shadows."

"Hai, sensei!"

"Don't talk to strangers."

"Hai, sensei!"

"Everyone is a stranger!"

His warnings for them were starting to make them anxious seeing as how he's only giving them warnings now just to keep them in the lair a little longer.

"Hai, sensei," they replied a little deflated before finally making their way to the turnstiles. They were all just up on the stairs until Master Splinter stopped them once more, "Make sure you go before you leave. The restrooms up there are filthy."

Embarrassed by his words, they all looked at him over their shoulder, "Sensei!"

Finally knowing that he couldn't stop them, he sighed, "Good luck, my sons and daughter."

Smiling, they all shouted in excitement before finally leaving the lair. Before they couldn't hear their Sensei anymore, they all heard his last warning, "Make sure you watch out for your sister!" They didn't hear whatever else he had to say after that since they were farther down into the sewers. It took them a while to reach the closest manhole, but they finally reached it.

Looking to one another, they all debated over who should go up first. Emi voted to go and check first since she has been to the surface before. But Leo, being the protective one, rejected that idea and decided to go first. Emi crossed her arms in front of her and pouted but didn't argue.

They all watched the elder terrapin climbed the ladder to the manhole cover. After checking to see if the coast was cleared of humans, he signaled to them and started climbing out. They all followed not too far behind.

Putting the manhole back on, they all looked around in awe of the sight. Emi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when she saw a homeless man sleeping on a thrown out mattress with a newspaper as his makeshift blanket.

The silence between them were all broken when Mikey spoke in awe, "It's so beautiful."

Looking at each other, they all smiled and started running out of the alley. Of course, they were careful to check to see if there are any humans nearby so they wouldn't see them. Too excited, Leo started to run ahead of them, "The city is just full of possibility. There could be an adventure around this corner..." he checked out the main streets before running to another alleyway, "Or-or this one...Or this one!"

When he sees that there wasn't anything, he smiles with a shrug, "There's not, but there could be!"

The brothers ignored his excitement as they all walked down the street. Emi was the only one who was listening, giggling at his excitement. Her laughter made him smile, a blush appearing on his cheeks. Walking behind their brothers, Leo walked next to Emi, his blush still apparent. She smiled at him before her attention was grabbed by Donnie and Mikey who got really excited by seeing something that excited them.

Skipping over to the brainiac terrapin, she grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him over to where Leo was, "Come on Donnie!"

He smiled at her and waited with her and Leo out on the street. After Raph dragged Mikey to them, Donnie asked, "So where to next?"

Before any of them could answer, a light from a passerby on a moped came driving up to them, coming to a halt. Surprised at how they look, the boy on the vehicle stared at them before Raph decided to scare him by growling. He shouted in fright and turned his moped around.

"That was kinda fun," Raph chuckled.

Emi punched him on the arm, "That was mean, Raph."

He shrugs, "Oh well."

They turn their attention to Leo when he spoke, "We're too exposed out here."

Looking around, Emi pointed up at the rooftops, "What about up there?"

Smiling, he nodded before leading them, "Come on."

Climbing up to the rooftops didn't take them long. Using the fire escape as their ladder, they got up there in mere seconds. Looking at each other, Leo looked around when he noticed that one of them was missing.

"Where's Mikey?"

Before any of them could reply, Mikey shouted, "You guys! Look what I found!"

Turning to look at him, they saw him holding a flat white box in his hands. Curious, Emi walked up to him, "What did you get, Mikey?"

He shrugs and placed it on an air conditioner. They all surrounded it, minds wondering what it is.

"Pizz-a?" read Mikey.

Ignoring his mispronunciation, Donnie asked, "Should we open it?"

"Careful! It could be dangerous," said Leo, being cautious for his siblings.

Raph and Emi looked at each other before shaking their heads. Grabbing the top of the box, the former lifted the top off to reveal a steaming, fresh, and hot pizza. They all looked at it curiously.

"I think it's food," said Donnie, answering their unquestioned curiosity.

"It's not like any food I ever saw," Raph replied.

As they kept looking at it, the smell of the sweet enticing aroma that was coming from it made Emi's mouth salivated. Seeing as how no one was going to try it, she announced herself, "I'll try it if no one's going to."

Just when she was about to grab it, Leo panicked and grabbed her outstretched hand, "No Emi! It could be poisoned or something."

She pouted, "But Leo~ It smells so good."

He shook his head, making her pouted even more but listened to him. Seeing as how none of them were going to try, Mikey decided that he'll try it instead, "I'll try it."

None of them stopped him when he grabbed a slice of pizza. They all watched anxiously as the young terrapin took a small bite of it. When he did, his mind exploded from heavenly flavor that he has ever tasted. Without any hesitation, he started to gobble it all up and burped once he was done. Noticing that the others were still watching him, he started to try a lie so he could keep it all to himself.

"Uh, yuck. You guys won't like it," he said, then started to grab the box for himself. "I'll take the rest."

They all instantly knew right away that he was lying and started to fight over for a slice. Grabbing one, Emi ate it and moaned at the delicious taste. The way how the melted cheese tasted on her taste buds. The flavor of the pepperoni and sauce. There were no words to it other than the cheese making it quite greasy.

"I never thought I'd taste anything better than worms and algae, but this is amazing!" said Raph, finishing his second slice.

Nodding, Emi agreed with him as she finished quickly eating her slice. Once she was done, she finished licking her fingers clean when Mikey shouted in happiness, "I love it up here!"

Laughing, she swung an arm around his shoulder, "You and me both!"

Smiling, he wrapped an arm around her as well. Looking at each other, they all smiled at each other and laughed. Emi looked up at the bright moon that showered them with its light. It has been quite a long time since she has stood under it and now that she is back underneath the sky, the only thing that is pumping through her body is to run and howl for all to hear.

And doing just that she did. She ran and started jumping from rooftops to rooftops, howling with laughter. The terrapins not far behind her. They all smiled as they watched her laugh and have fun while chasing after her.

Running with excitement and adrenaline rushing through their veins, they all skidded to a stop next to each other on a rooftop. Barely out of breath, they all watched the city night lights illuminate the dark. Relishing in the cool wind blowing through her hair, Emi's attention was taken when Leo broke the silence, "Alright, guys, it's getting late. We should probably head back home."

They all groaned, disappointed that they already have to leave the surface. Not arguing with him, they all started to walk until Donnie stopped them, "Guys! Look at that!"

Turning to look at where he pointed, they all saw a red-haired girl taking a nightly stroll with a man whom they assume is her father.

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen."

They all gave him a disbelief look, looking at Emi who tilted her head in curiosity at the girl, and then back at their brother. Though Leo may not show it, he was glad that he doesn't have to worry about any of his little brothers having feelings for their white-haired sister.

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen? Besides Emi," said Raph, snapping his little brother from his daze.

Looking at his hot-tempered brother, then Emi, he huffs, "My point still stands."

Ears flickering, Emi growled when she saw a white van stopped itself in front of the father and daughter. Seeing her uneasiness, Leo walked up to her, "What's wrong Emi?"

His question was answered when he looked down at the scene. A man in a white tank top jumped out of the passenger side, while four men in suits jumped out of the back of the van. Emi growled lowly in her throat at seeing those men kidnapping the two.

"We gotta save 'em!" shouted Donnie, about to jump to help.

But Leo stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, "Splinter's instructions were very clear. We're supposed to stay away from people. And bathrooms."

Glancing his way, Emi couldn't help but find Leo adorable. She giggled, "Cute."

Leo blushed at her words before smiling goofily. Smiling at him, she focused her attention back to the situation in front of her while listening to their conversation.

"I thought you wanted to be a hero. Since when do heroes ask for permission?" Raph asked, mentally rolling his eyes at how their older brother was around their sister.

"They don't, but-"

Before Leo could finish, Donnie interrupted, "Well, I'm going!" and just with that, he leaped off to help. The other two younger terrapins, not wanting to miss out on the action, jumped right after.

Watching them leave to help the girl, Emi turned to see if Leo would follow. Instead of following, he stood in his same place, sighing. Smiling in sympathy, she walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He tensed under her touch and quickly looked at her. A blush made its way upon his cheeks.

"E-Emi! I thought for sure you would've followed the others."

Giggling, she patted his shoulder, "Don't let what Raph said put you down. And he's kind of right. You did want an adventure when we got up here. Well, now you got one."

Rubbing the back of his neck, he nodded, "Yeah, I know."

Smiling, her hand that was on his shoulder went to grasp his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, "It's alright to listen to Master Splinter's words, Leo. But when it comes to a situation like this, it's best to follow your heart and disobey his words for a while."

He thought about her words before smiling. Looking down at her, he nodded, "Yeah, thanks Emi." Turning to where their brothers ran off to, he smiled at her over his shoulder, "Let's go help our brothers."

Nodding, she smiled and followed right behind him.

It didn't take them long to catch up to the others. They looked at one another before nodding, jumping down to save the girl and her father.

Kicking one of the men away from the girl, Emi couldn't help grunt when she thought that she felt a metallic body instead of one of flesh. Her eyes narrowed at the man-in-suit in front of her. Glancing at the other men in suit, she noticed that they all looked the same. Not one of them looked different other than the man in tank-top,

Feeling a fist about to close in on her face, Emi dodged her head to the right. The man missed his attack but didn't relent it just there. He started to throw multiple punches and kicks at her. Dodging every one of them flawlessly, her eyes widen when she saw Donnie about to jab the enemy that was back to back with her.

Looking at the one in front of her, she smirked at the idea planning in her head. Waiting at the last second when the purple terrapin jabbed his opponent in the chest, Emi flipped backward, over the attacked man, watching in satisfaction as the man fell right on top of her opponent.

She smiled, "Thanks for the help, Donnie."

He was left confused when she left him to help the others. However, every time when she tried to help one of the brothers, they would always get in each other's way. She always had to help the other with their opponent.

Frowning, she couldn't help but noticed how much they lack in their teamwork. They were all over the places, trying to fight their own opponent, accidentally hitting or stopping each other with their weapons. Seeing the men making their way away with the girl and her father, Emi started to run after her brothers, who started arguing.

"You just jabbed me with your sword," Raph said angrily.

"Well, I didn't know you were gonna land where I was stabbing," Leo replied, frustrated at the outcome of their first real battle.

Rolling her eyes, Emi ran next to Leo, "Cute boys. Now save the argument for later. We have a vehicle to catch."

Agreeing, they all silently ran. They started to slow down when they saw Donnie, standing in the middle of the street looking at every which way.

"Donnie! What happened?" asked Leo.

Sighing in frustration, the terrapin in question answered, "I lost them. They drove away too fast."

Walking up to him, Emi put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry Donnie. We'll save them."

She got a silent nod. Not hearing the talkative turtle, Emi started looking around, "Where's Mikey?"

Her question also caught their attention and they started to look around. Groaning, Raph grunted, "He must still be back there."

Without a word, they all silently walked back to go and get their baby brother. Just when they were a block away, they apparently didn't need to go far. Mikey came running up to them shouting, "Guys! Guys! You're never gonna believe this!"

Pointing at the direction at where he came from, he continued, "That dude, he-he... had a brain!"

"We all have brains, Mikey," Leo replied dully.

"Not all of us," Donnie added.

Emi couldn't help but giggle, earning a smile from a certain blue terrapin. Raph roll his eyes when his brother thought that no one was looking.

"In our chests?" Mikey continues.

His question instantly made Emi stop her laughter and put her entire focus on the young terrapin.

"No, Mikey. Not in our chests," said Leo, getting a bit tired with his little brother's dumb discovery.

Angry, Mikey shouted, "You're not listening to me!"

That earned him a slap to the face. Putting his hand up in defense, he glared at his eldest brother, "Did you just slap me?"

"I was calming you down."

"Why would that calm me down?!"

"I think he's delusional," said Donnie.

Deciding to intervene, Emi stepped between the two, "Okay, that's enough." She turned to look at the young terrapin, "Where did you see this Mikey?"

Doing as she asked, he started to walk towards the location, "Just-Just-Come here. I'm telling you. The big guy was a robot and he had a freaky weird alien brain thing in his chest."

As they followed him, Leo lean closer to Emi, talking in a quiet tone, "You don't really believe him, do you?"

Not losing the serious look on her face, she replied, "Not many things. But this... yeah. I do."

He looked at her in disbelief. Leo has known Emi for a very long time now and knew that there weren't many things that she didn't believe. Especially when it comes to something like an alien robot with a brain in its chest. But seeing how serious she is at just Mikey's little belief story about the topic, he couldn't help but believe him as well.

Leo had known for a long time now that when it comes to Emi's instinct, they were never wrong. Humming, he nodded and stood back up straight.

Still following their baby brother, Mikey pleaded with them, "You gotta believe me."

Before Emi could reassure him, Raph replied first, "I'm not sure we do."

"Oh yeah? Well, you'll change your tune when you see that he's-" Mikey started before looking into the alley that he had left the alien robot just to see that it was empty, "Gone?"

Raph shook his head at their baby brother's imagination before leaving with the others. Watching them walk away, Mikey frowned when he saw none of them believed him.

Emi was about to walk away too until she saw the sadness on Michelangelo's face. Taking a glance at the alleyway, she looked back at the orange terrapin and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked at her glumly. She smiled warmly at him, "If anything Mikey, I believe you."

Her words seemed to have brightened him even just a little when he looked at her, "Really?"

She nodded, "The others might take a while. We'll just have to prove it to them that alien robots does exist."

"Alien robots with _brains_ in their chests!"

Giggling, she ruffles his head, "Yeah Mikey. Alien robots with brains in their chests." Taking her hand off his head, she wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "Now come on, we don't want to be left behind."

Smiling, he nodded and took her hand, dragging her with him to catch up to their brothers.

~Back at the Lair~

Once they got back home, they all went to sit in the dojo as they explained to their father about what happened. He stood in front of them with his eyes narrowed down at them. Mostly to his sons.

"And so your inability to work together allowed them all to get away."

"Well, maybe if I didn't have to waste time arguing with hero boy, I could've saved them," Raph angrily replied back.

Not liking being accused, Leo pointed at him, "Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, I could have done it." He then turned to the purple terrapin next to him, "And you went flying off on your own. How smart was that?"

"Well, it would've worked out great if _somebody_ hadn't hit me in the head with their nunchucks!" Donnie shouted at the orange terrapin.

Still frustrated that none of the brothers believed him, Mikey angrily replied, "Well, none of this would've happened if..." he looked to his other side to blame this on. But seeing how Emi was sitting on Raph's other side, he brought the blame to their sensei without thinking. "Somebody hadn't trusted us to go up there in the first place."

Hearing his accusation towards their father, they all gasped and looked up at him.

Feeling guilty, Mikey rubbed the top of his head, "Oh geez. Sensei, I didn't mean to-"

"No, Michelangelo. You are right," Splinter interrupted him.

"I am?"

"He is?" the others asked, shocked for once that he was.

Pacing in front of them, he explained further for his words, "You were not fully prepared for what was up there. I trained you to fight as individuals, not as a team. And as your teacher, your father, the responsibility for that is mine. Perhaps in another year we can try again."

"W-Wha-? Another year?" Donnie asked in disbelief. "Ha-has everybody forgotten that people were kidnapped? They don't have a year! Sensei, we have to do something now!"

Splinters eyes narrowed down at him, making him continue, "You weren't there, sensei. You didn't see the way that girl looked into my eyes. She was scared. And she was counting on me- us-" he corrected himself. "To save her!"

Contemplating over his third oldest son, Splinter walked over to the pedestal that held a picture of his wife and daughter. As he stared at it, he could remember the day his beloved wife died in his arms in the raging flames. Not wanting his sons to experience what he had, he finally agreed, "Yes, you must save her."

"I agree, sensei," Leo started. "But in that fight, we weren't exactly a well-oiled machine."

"Like that robot with the brain thingy," Mikey added.

"Give it a rest," said Raph, getting tiring of his topic about the alien robots.

Thinking, Splinter hummed, "If you are to fight more effectively as a unit, you are going to need a Leader."

Hearing the word leader, Leo instantly brought a hand up, "Can I be the Leader?"

"Why should you the Leader?" asked Raph, pounding a fist into his hand. "I kicked your butt. I should be the Leader."

"Hey, I'm smarter than all you guys put together. It should be me," said Donnie, crossing his arms in front of him.

"No way! It should be _me_!" shouted Mikey. All the brothers blinked in bewilderment at him.

"I don't really have a reason. I just think it would be neat."

Splinter smiled in amusement at them, "What about Emi? From what you all have told me, she is the one who mostly helped you all in your battle. With a quick thinking and taking action upon it at the last second, I think she would be quite fitting to be Leader. Don't you think?"

They all looked over at the girl, who had been sitting there with them in silence. They blinked at her, eyes wide at what their sensei had just said.

Blinking, she looked at them, "What?"

"Is it true?" Leo asked, still surprised at her.

She shrugged, "It's not really that hard to plan and execute it in seconds. You just need to know what's in your surrounding and use it to your advantage. Like how earlier when I was fighting against my own opponent, Donnie's opponent was back to back with me. I had used his timing for when he was going to jab his opponent to fly into mine. Killing two birds with one stone."

Their jaw dropped at her explanation. Especially Donnie's. Now he understood what she meant when she thanked him earlier during the fight.

Chuckling, Splinter put a hand on her head, "As you can tell, Emi seem to make quite a Leader. Don't you think so?"

The brothers couldn't argue with him there. Heck, even they didn't think about using the same tactic like she did during their fight until now. Smiling, Emi looked up at their father, "Sensei, as much as I like the title of Leader. I prefer if you have chosen someone else. Being a Leader will be too much work."

Humming, he nodded before leaving to his room. Opening the door, he looked over at their direction, "Since Emi has chosen not to be the Leader, this will be a difficult decision. I will meditate on it." He closed the door shut before it was quickly opened, "It's Leonardo." With that said, he quickly shut it again.

Emi looked over at the red terrapin when he grunted out in frustration.

"No hard feelings, Raph?" Leo asked, happy that he got chosen.

Standing up, he started leaving the dojo, "Stick it in your shell."

Seeing that they too were no longer needed, both Donnie and Mikey got up and left, leaving Leo and Emi alone. Nervous that they were alone together, the former cleared his throat, "So... what do you think might be the best plan tonight on trying to get the family back?"

Straightening her legs in front of her, she shrugs, "You're the Leader, Leo. You have to make up the plan."

He rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah I know. But with what sensei had said about you... and what with your quick thinking-"

She interrupted him by facing him, putting a finger on his lips, "Leo. Every Leader makes different decision. Different plans. If you're not quite sure about your plans and want to know another's opinion, I'll always be here to help you."

He blushed at her finger on his lips but smile when she took it away, "Thanks Emi."

~Later tonight~

After coming up with a plan, both Leo and Emi had gathered everyone together again as they all went back to the surface. While they were finding the right building, Leo had explained his plan to the others, before they finally found it and decided to stake out on the building next to it.

It was only a few minutes that they had only been there until Mikey whispered-asked, "Explain to me one more time what we're doing here."

The brothers all groan at him. Deciding to explain, Emi walked to stand next to the orange terrapin, "Mikey, you see that building over there?"

He nodded, "Uh huh."

"On the side of it, it has the same logo as the one on the van that kidnapped the family. We're here waiting for one of the kidnappers to show up."

Leo then intervened, quietly pounding a fist in his hand, "And when he does, we'll make him tell us where they took them."

"And then we got ourselves a van!" Mikey fist pumped, still not getting what their objective is.

Face-palming, Leo glared at him, "Just hit the guy I tell you to."

"Will do!"

Walking away from the young terrapin, Emi went to stand next to Leo, her tail swishing behind her. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" asked Raph, not too confident about the whole stakeout plan.

Smirking, Leo went back to watching the building, "Trust me. They'll be here any second."

~Hours later~

It was getting late and none of the kidnappers still haven't shown up. Getting frustrated by just wasting their time up on a rooftop, Raph huffed out angrily, "Give it up already. The guy's not gonna show."

"We have to be patient," Leo replied, taking a glance at his brother before watching the building again.

"No, you have to come up with a better plan, 'cause the five of us standing here with our thumbs up our noses..."

He was interrupted by Mikey, "I don't think they'd fit." He then said in excitement, "Emi's might will though!"

That earned him a thrown rock to the head by said girl.

"Ow!"

Glancing away from him, he finishes, "is pointless."

"You sure about that, Raph?" said Leo, a smirk making its way on his face.

"He just showed up, didn't he?"

Emi giggled and nodded, "You should've complained two hours ago, Raph." She only got a got a quiet "whatever" in reply.

Gathering together, they all looked down at the van, watching as the guy in the tank top walks out of the vehicle. Before they could make a move to jump down there to surround him, Leo started one of Captain Ryan's speech, "Gentlemen, I have a bold and daring plan. There's no time for hesitation."

As much as Emi loved the blue terrapin turtle, she jumped down off the roof with the others, not waiting for him to finish. Still going along with the plan, they all surrounded the man, with no way out for him to escape.

"Alright, buddy. We can do this the easy way, or-" Raph said, taking a look at Leo, earning a nod from the latter, before facing back at the man, weapons drawn, "my vote- the hard way."

"Yeah, look at it logically. There are four of us and one of you. What are you gonna do?" Donnie added.

His question was answered when the man pulled out a plasma gun out from behind him. Without hesitation, he started firing at them. Dodging, Emi dug her claws into the wall as they watched the kidnapper escape by getting back into his van. Jumping down to stand next to Leo, Emi watch as the van turned a corner.

"He's getting away again!" Donnie shouted.

Looking up at the rooftops, Leo narrowed his eyes, "No he's not."

Seeing him turn to look at her, Emi knew exactly what he wanted her to do. Smirking, she nodded, "The hunt is on."

Running, she took a giant leap up to the rooftops, not using any of the fire escapes to ladder her up. Once her feet touched the pavement of the roof, her golden eyes glinted dangerously in the midst of night. With a burst of speed, she shot forward, running and jumping over multiple rooftops in mere seconds. Seeing the van already in her sight, she took out a shuriken and threw it straight at the wheels. Hearing the sweet sound of the tires popping, Emi couldn't help but smirk at her job well done.

It didn't take the terrapin brothers long enough to catch up to her. Looking down at the overturned van, Leo smirked, "Now we're getting somewhere."

Smirking, Emi flipped her hair, "Don't ever doubt me for a second."

He chuckles before focusing back on the mission on hand, "Come on."

Nodding, they all stealthily made their way down the building that the van was closest to. Hidden within the shadows, they waited for Leo's orders. However, he started to give them some weird hand signs that none of the brothers understood.

Frustrated, Raph whispered-shouted, "I don't know what that means."

Looking at them over her shoulders, Emi smiled apologetically, "It means go around back."

"Why didn't he just say so?" said Mikey, then turned to his sister. "I'm surprised you understood that, Emi."

Before she could reply, Leo frustratedly whispered-shouted at them, "Guys!"

Focusing, they all held their weapons and slowly walked out of the shadow. They separated where three went one side while the other two went the other, surrounding the car so the kidnapper couldn't escape.

Once they finally made it to the back of the vehicle, Raph approached it and opened the closed door. But in doing so, a container which held some kind of glowing substance rolled out of it. It kept rolling until it stopped in front of Mikey's feet.

He stared at it for a few second, recognizing the container.

"Mom?"

 **Testing the waters~ BYES!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Rise of the Turtles Part 2**

"Whoa~"

They all stared in awe of the somewhat beautiful glowing substance.

"So that's the-" Leo started before Donnie finished for him. "Mutagen that turned us all into what we are now."

Excited, Mikey shouted, "Let's drink some!"

"What? Why would you do that?" Raph asked, disbelief at the idiotic idea that his brother just shouted out.

"'Cause if you mutate a mutant, you get a super mutant!" was Mikey's only brilliant reply.

"Or a pile of goo on the sidewalk," Donnie said nonchalantly.

"Either way, it's an improvement," Raph added.

Shaking her head, Emi stepped in, "Alright, enough. We're getting nowhere with this."

Leo stepped to stand next to her, "Emi's right guys. This is huge. Whoever kidnapped those people are somehow connected to what happened to us fifteen years ago."

Curious, she looked at him, "How is that possible?"

They looked at Mikey when he spoke, "For alien robots, anything is possible."

"Stop that. There are no such thing as alien robots!" Donnie said irritatedly.

"Oh, yeah?"

Walking away from them, the orange terrapin walked over to the kidnapper who finally dragged himself out of the vehicle.

"Well, if there's no such thing as alien robots, how do you explain this?"

He roughly grabbed the man's head and started trying to tear his face off.

"Aah! Aah! My face!"

"Ugh! Man, this mask is glued on tight!"

Taking a step forward, Emi stopped him, "Mikey, stop! It's not a mask." She would know since most of the men, all looked the same. This kidnapper didn't look like the rest. His scent was too human.

Looking at the man closely, Mikey pushed him away, "Okay. He's in the clear. But those other guys were totally alien robots."

Irritated that they're not getting anywhere, Raph shouted, "Enough! Time to get some answers." Walking over to the kidnapper with the mutagen container in hand, Raph grabbed him by the front of his shirt, "Who are you and what's goin' on?"

Knowing that he isn't able to escape them, the kidnapper glares up at him, "Name's Snake, and I got nothing to say to you hideous freaks." He then takes a look at Emi, who had walked to stand next to the red terrapin, and smirks, "Though I might change my mind now that I see you, beautiful."

Angry at him throwing a flirtatious look at Emi, Leo growled at the man. He pulled the girl behind him so she was out of the man's sight.

She was confused by the blue terrapin's action and tilted her head, "Leo?" He didn't answer her as he kept his glare on the man. Sighing, she put her attention back on the situation.

Raph didn't like how he had flirted with their little sister either. Pulling the man up close to his face, he glared with a smirk, "Oh, well, that's 'cause you don't know us yet." He then threw him to his brothers.

Both Donnie and Michelangelo caught him by each of his arms and held him tightly. They too glared at him, not liking how he tried to flirt with their sister. Walking over to them, Raph opened the canister and brought it up to the man's face, "See, we were just regular guys until we got hit with a little of this.

Frightened on what he was going to do to him, Snake tried to get out of their grasp, "Wha-What are you doing?"

"Playing a little game I like to call Mutation Roulette," Raph smirked. "Now you could turn out handsome like me, or you might end up disgusting and deformed like Mikey here."

"Hey!"

Ignoring him, he finishes, "So, you feel lucky?"

Slowly, he started to pour the sticky mutagen. It slowly made its way down, getting closer and closer to Snake's face, who started yelling. When it was really close, he finally gave in, "Okay, okay! They call themselves the Kraang. They been grabbing scientists from all over the city."

Impressed, Leo went to stand next to his red terrapin brother, "Well, that worked pretty good."

"Of course it did. Would you wanna look like Mikey?" said Raph, gesturing to their baby brother.

Mikey glumly replied, "I'm right here."

Frowning, Emi walked to wrap her arms around the orange terrapin's neck, pulling him to her, "Don't be mean to him. I find Mikey quite adorable." She smiled at the end of the sentence, rubbing her cheek on the top of his head.

Happy by her words, Mikey stuck his tongue out at the two older terrapins before rubbing his head under her chin, earning himself a giggle from her.

Eye twitching, Leo took a deep breath to calm his temper before slowly letting it out. Turning his attention back to the man in question, he asked, "What do they want with Scientists?"

"I don't know," Snake blandly replied.

Shaking the mutagen in front of him, he quickly gave them the answer that he only knew about, "All I know is they're taking them out of the city tonight, but I don't know where!"

Before any of them could think about the information that they were given, Donnie suddenly shouted in excitement, "This is awesome! That girl's dad is a scientist. I'm a scientist." He then giggles in glee, "She is so gonna like me."

"I don't think you're her type," Snake said frankly.

Not liking his words, Emi let go of Mikey and slapped the back of Snake's head before going to stand next to the purple terrapin. She hugged his arm, glaring down at the man, "What's there not to like about him? He's kind, smart, and knows how to fight. Any girl would be very lucky to be with my brother."

The only response she received from the man was an eyebrow raised when she had called the purple terrapin her brother.

Donnie smiled down at her, "Aw, thanks Emi."

He got a smile and a tighter hug from her before she let go to stand next to Leo, who was trying really hard to reassure himself that she saw their brainiac brother as only a brother. Raph elbowed him in the plastron, gaining his attention. The red terrapin gestured his head to Snake, mentally telling him to focus.

Nodding, he looks back down at the man, "Where are they now?"

~After getting the information~

Emi stood on the edge of the roof next to their leader, looking down at the building that the Kraang was holding the family at. Though they were quite far from the building, she could clearly see that it was heavily guarded. Turning to look at Leo, she asked, "So how is it?"

Looking through the telescope, he answered, "There's gotta be like, twenty of them down there."

"Yeah, and that's just the ones we can see," Donnie added, earning a nod from the girl.

They turned to Raph when he took out his weapons, excited for a fight, "All right! An All-You-Can-Beat buffet!"

Before he could take any step further, Leo quickly stopped him, "We can't just rush in there. We need a plan."

"Why?" he asked, not understanding why they can't just go down there right now and beat the crap out of them

Backing their elder brother up, Donnie exasperatedly explained, "Think, you shellbrain. There are innocent lives at stake. If we screw this up, they're all goners.

Emi nodded, "Donnie's right. There's no point in rushing in there now. We'll lose before we could even get inside."

"Then we won't screw it up," was Raph's only reply to their cautious statement.

Emi sighed, putting a hand to her head while shaking it. Their attention was then grabbed when Mikey suddenly joined them, "Boy, I could sure go for some of that pizza right now, huh?"

They all looked at him, blinking.

"What? I can't be the only one that's hungry."

Looking at each other, they all turned to look back at him.

"Where's Snake?" Leo slowly asked.

Mikey gasped, remembering that he was supposed to be watching the said man. Turning their heads to look at where he was supposed to be, they saw that he was gone.

He grimaced, "Oh geez."

Ear's flickering, Emi heard fast running footsteps and laughter. Turning to the direction where she heard it from, she saw him running. Before he could fully run away from them, she pointed, "There he is!"

"Get him!" Leo ordered.

No argument there, the terrapin brothers started going after Snake down the fire escape while Emi decided to stick to the rooftops so she could spot him easier. As the brothers split up into two groups, Emi ran and jumped on the rooftops, not letting Snake out of her sight. While he ran, not once did he noticed that she was following him, which was good for her.

Arriving at a park, she slid to a stop when she saw him quickly hid on the side of a dumpster in the alleyway. Her gaze was turned away from him when she saw both Leo and Raph making their way to the park, stopping at the entrance of the alleyway. They both looked up at her, getting a confirmation nod from her that Snake was indeed hiding in the alley. It was more confirmed when they heard an accidentally kicked can.

Swiveling her ears, she focused her hearing onto the two, wondering on what they were going to do next when she saw Raph nod to Leo's gesture.

"Oh, great. We let him get away," Leo said, in a fake normal tone. She raised an eyebrow at that. She was surprised that not even Snake caught on to the fake tone about them not knowing where he was hiding.

Seeing this as an opportunity to get him back at his title, Raph replied with a mischievous smile, "Whoa, whoa. You're the Leader. That means you let him get away."

Leo lowly growled in frustration, "You're not helping."

"I'm not trying to help," Raph smiled with a shrug. Emi couldn't help but shake her head at the two.

Rolling his eyes, Leo decided to let it go, "Okay, okay. You want me to lead? Fine." He then spoke up a little louder for Snake to hear, "We go back to the Lair, gear up, and at midnight, we drive Snake's van right up to the gate. They'll think we're him, and we'll cruise right in."

"And then we bust some heads?"

He smiled, "And then, we bust some heads."

"I love a happy ending."

Smiling at those words they started leaving the park, heading back to meet up with their brothers. Leo waved an arm at Emi's direction, gesturing for her to come down. Doing as he asked, she silently jumped and landed next to them.

He smiled at her, "You heard?"

Smiling, she gave a thumbs up, "Loud and clear."

~Back at the Lair~

Before returning back to the lair, Leo had gone over the plan to the other two. Donnie, agreeing with the plan, had separated himself from the group once they got back home to get things ready for their mission back in his lab. Raph and Mikey went their own ways while Leo took Emi with him to the dojo. They were both sitting in the room, going over the pros and cons of the plan.

"We'll use Snake's van as a distraction so the enemies attention will be turned away from the other surroundings," said Leo, going over the plan once more.

Nodding, Emi smiled, "And then we'll use the Tegaki that Donnie is making for us to climb over the wall. Just hope we don't encounter any of the enemies once we get on the top of it."

Right when she finished, Mikey's scream was heard with Raph yelling after him. Looking away from the plan, she blinked when she saw the orange terrapin running away from the red turtle, who was chasing after him with a wooden spoon.

"I'm gonna shellac you!"

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Leo when he spoke, "I think this plan is gonna work."

They looked up when Splinter walked up to them, "No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. It is how you react to the unexpected that will determine if the both of you and your brothers succeed."

Seeing as how this was between the two of them, Emi put a hand on Leo's shoulder, "I'll wait with the others."

He nodded and watched as she left the room. He could hear her trying to break the fight between Raph and Mikey before squealing in excitement when she saw Spike. His guess is that she forgot about the chasing brothers when she saw the pet turtle. Turning his attention back to their father, he voiced his worried, "Sensei, do you think I'm ready for this? I think you should've made Emi the Leader after all. She's calm and actually knows the best routes to get us in and out safely."

Sensing his anxiety, Splinter put a hand on his shoulder, "That may be true. But Leonardo, I made you Leader for a reason."

Wondering what it was, he asked, "What is that reason?"

"That is for you to discover on your own."

He frowns, "There's so much riding on this. What if something goes wrong?"

"Failure is a possibility every Leader must face, Leonardo. It is something I had to face in Japan during my final battle with my enemy, the Shredder." Splinter then re-tells his story to him, "Years ago, Oroku Saki, as Shredder was called then, had been my friend. But the love of a woman came between us. He could not accept it, and his jealousy turned outward in a vengeful attack. And while he could not defeat me that day, my world fell and crumbled around me as the battle took the life of my beloved Tang Shen, and I lost my baby daughter, Miwa."

Saddened by the memory, he walked away from his son towards the tree in the dojo and put a hand on it. Thinking about the story, Leo walked up to him, "But that's my point, sensei. You lost everything."

"I lost many things. My family, my home, my name," he started. Turning to look back at his son, Splinter saw the sadness on his face. Smiling, he finishes, "But I gained many things as well, like the four of you and your sister, Emi."

Smiling, Leo decided to push his worried aside, "Don't worry. We can handle this."

Their attention was then grabbed when Mikey ran by with a pot on his head, screaming. Raph chasing after him not too far behind with a wooden spoon still in hand.

"Raph! Stop chasing after Mikey!" Emi yelled, running after the two with Spike who sat snuggly on the top of her head.

Both father and son blinked before looking back at each other and sighs. Leo jumped when he heard Emi's voice behind him, "So, everything okay?" Turning around, he saw a smiling Emi, who still had Spike on the top of her head.

Splinter chuckled, "Yes. Leonardo just had some concern that he had needed to voice out."

She looked at the said boy in concern, "Are you alright?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I'll be fine."

Smiling, she put a hand on his cheek, "You'll do fine, Leo." With that, she left to gather everyone, shouting that it was time to go.

Leo smiled at her words, feeling reassured that they will succeed on their mission.

~Executing the plan~

Tying the rope on the wheel, Emi gave a thumbs up to Donnie, "Everything's secure here, Donnie."

Nodding, he set a timer on the gas pedal before gesturing for the both of them to head back to the others. Running into the shadows between the alleyway, Donnie gave a thumbs up to the others, who nodded back. Waiting, it didn't take long for the van to start up, the headlights automatically flash on, and started driving full speed straight towards the guarded entrance.

"Alright, come on!" Leo ordered.

No arguments, they all nodded and ran towards the shadowed side of the building. Putting on the Tegaki, they quietly started to climb the wall. Emi smiled when she saw all the guards focusing on where the van exploded, "Wow, the plan worked perfectly."

"Yeah, and lucky thing that van showed up to distract them," Mikey added.

Sighing at his idioticness, Donnie face-palmed himself, forgetting that he had the Tegaki on his hands, "Ow!"

"That was the plan, Mikey. We knew Snake was hiding in the alley, so Raph and I made him think we would be in the van," Leo explained.

"But we weren't in the van," he stated confusedly.

Shaking his head, Leo was about to tell him to keep climbing until he was interrupted by Emi, "What's taking you guys so long?"

Looking up at her, he saw that she was already at the top of the wall and was now waiting for them. Mikey waved at her, "Wait for us, Dudette!"

They then started to finish climbing, standing together with her. Flashing them a smile, it quickly disappeared when she went back to being serious. She turned and pointed down at the building, "We won't be able to go through the front door either seeing as how that's also heavily guarded."

Standing next to her, Leo looked down and saw that she was right. There were four enemies together guarding the steel metal front door. Narrowing his eyes, he hummed, "There has to be another way in. If we take those four out, the ones in the front gates will notice us for sure."

They then quickly looked around to find another route to get inside the building. Seeing a square like shape on the side of the building, Donnie pointed, "What about the air vents? It seems pretty big enough for us to fit in."

Smiling, Leo patted him on the shoulder, "Good eye, Donnie." He then turns to look at the others, "Alright, let's go ninja's."

Nodding, they all silently jumped off the wall and ran straight towards the vent. Getting the vent door opened took quite a while to pry open, but with Raph's temper, he ripped the thing right off in mere seconds. Not arguing about his way of getting things opened, Leo gestured for Emi to enter, "You go in first Emi. With your hearing, you'll be able to pick up if the enemies talk about the family in their conversation."

Instead of getting a nod, he didn't expect to get a glare and a pout from her. Blinking, he asked, "What?"

He watched as she pulled her kimono skirt down a bit, "You better not look."

His face became so red that even it could put Raph's mask in shame. Quickly correcting himself, he stuttered, "T-That's not- Emi I-"

He stopped his stuttering when Raph slapped him on the back of his head. Growling, the red terrapin glared at them, "Now's not the time for this!"

"Yeah, you two. So let's hurry up. Or unless you both actually want _us_ to get caught!" Donnie whispered-shouted.

Still blushing, Leo coughed in his fist, "I promise I won't look Emi."

Satisfied with his answer, she smiled, "Okay." Without waiting for them, she grasped onto the edge of the vent before pulling herself up and started crawling.

Leo was about to go next until Raph slapped his shell, making him stumble forward a bit. Grunting, he glowered at his tempered brother, who held a huge smirk on his face, "Yeah, Leo. Make sure you don't look."

Blush still evident, he mumbled, "Shut up," before climbing in after their sister.

Confused, Donnie looked at Mikey, "What's up with those two?"

He shrugs, "I dunno."

Shaking his head, Donnie knew he shouldn't have asked him and followed after their brothers.

Crawling into the tight space of the air vent was a bit of a challenge for the turtle brothers, seeing as how they have shells on their back. Emi, on the other hand, had no problem with it as she easily crawled through the large space with ease.

As they crawled through the vent, Leo had kept his word and hadn't looked up at Emi's skirt. Though it was kind of hard seeing as how he needed to see where he was going. But, he had decided to let just follow Emi's direction while he looked down at every vent door that they passed. So far, every hallway that they had passed by had too many of the enemies.

Stopping, Emi had made Leo accidentally bump his head on her rear. His face turned beet red, "E-Emi. What's going on? W-why'd you stop?"

Instead of answering him, she moved herself to the other side of the vent, gesturing for him to come over next to her. She whispered, "There's no point in trying to crawl our way through the air vent the entire time. We should just take our chance and go down there."

Thinking about her words, he nodded, "You're right." He then turns to the others, "Raph and I will go down first. You guys follow after alright?"

They nodded.

Looking down through the vent, they watched as two of the enemies walked by. Not wasting any time, Raph raised a fist and pounded the vent door right off. The sound had caught the enemies attention when they looked up. Before they could fire their weapons at them, the older brothers jumped down and quickly knocked the enemies out.

Seeing a job well done, Emi jumped down, the other two not far behind, and looked at the interior of the strange building. The place looked quite familiar to her and yet, at the same time, doesn't. She frowned at where she had seen this before but pushed it aside when Donnie spoke in awe, "Wow, I've never seen anything like this. They're using a metal alloy that I don't even recognize."

Raph came up to him and replied sarcastically, "Gosh! A metal alloy even you don't know about! It boggles the mind."

Shaking her head, Emi couldn't help but sigh that the brothers couldn't go on one mission to not argue with each other. Not wanting any throwdowns between the boys, she walked over to them.

"Dude, you wanna talk metallurgy with me? Bring it."

"I don't, and-" Raph was interrupted when the white-haired girl came up behind him and started pushing him forward, away from the tech geek turtle.

She huffed, "Enemy Lair. That means no arguing, no fighting each other, only focusing on the mission at hand."

Walking on his own, Emi let go of his shell when the two started to follow the others who had gone a bit ahead. As they walked down the hall, they all stopped a bit ways when they saw alien robots standing in the middle of the intersection.

Breaking the silence in the group, Donnie spoke in awe, "Whoa. Alien robots."

"Alien robots, huh? Hmm, where have I heard that before?" Mikey thought sarcastically until he started to shout, alarming the others. "Oh yeah, I've been saying it for hours!"

His shout had gained the attention from the enemies when they started to open fire at them. The boys, seeing as how their cover is blown by their idiotic brother, drew their weapons and ran to fight. As for Emi, the memory from ten years ago floated itself back into the front of her mind. The sound of the firing plasma guns. The burning sensation when the lasers graze her flesh. The anger from back then rose and started to swim its way throughout her entire body. Letting out a low deep growl, she glared at the enemies and ran.

Dodging each and every laser that was being aimed at her, Emi took out her tessens and started to decapitate each and every one that was near her. Running toward a far back enemy, she deflected every laser that was fired at her and flipped over them. While she was in the air, she threw her weapons, decapitating its head and arms off, and caught them back in her hands once she landed.

Twirling it in her hands, she glared straight down at the alien brain when it popped itself out of its compartment and screech at her. It started to fast crawl its way towards her, baring its teeth at her. Not afraid of it, she bared her own teeth at it and growled before kicking it straight down the hall towards where the boys were.

They blinked in surprise when they saw it passed by and slid on the ground a few feet away from them. Turning their heads to their little sister, they could see the anger evident on her face and body. Her hands tightened around her weapons while she was taking deep breaths to calm her anger down.

Concerned for her, Leo took a step towards her, "Emi? Are you alright?"

With her eyes closed, she took one last deep breath before opening them and nodded, "Yeah. I just… remembered what happened ten years ago. Don't worry about it."

Nodding, he walked up to her. She had put her weapons away when he stood next to her. Grabbing her hand, he gently pulled her back to the others, "Come on."

She didn't argue as she let him. Once they were back with the others, Mikey grabbed the Kraang, that Emi had kicked, by its tentacles and held it up for them to see, "See? See? It's a brain thing! I told you! I told you! But did any of you believe me? No! 'Cause you all think I'm just some kind of bonehead! Out of all you, only Emi believed me!"

They could only watch on when Mikey's loud voice had woke the Kraang up and started biting his arm.

"Ow!"

Creeped out at the brain alien gnawing on his arm, Mikey started to wave his arm around in the air, trying to throw it off. But when he succeeded, he had accidentally flung it onto a button on a wall that started to set off an alarm. Sirens blared loudly in the hallway, alerting any nearby enemies.

Angry at his idiotic self, they shouted, "Mikey!"

Grimacing at his mistake, he turns and pointed at them, "Okay! But I was still right about the brain thing. You gotta give me that."

Shaking their heads, they sighed and started to think on where to go next. They couldn't exactly hide anymore since the entire facility now knows about their whereabouts. Looking down at one hall, Leo ordered, "Let's move!"

"Move where?" Raph asked, confused how they're supposed to find the family in such a huge facility that just looks the same every which way they look.

Seeing Donnie walking somewhere while looking up at the ceiling, Emi asked, "Donnie?"

He turned to them and pointed at the black bars on the ceilings, "I think those are power conduits."

Irritated at his scientific talk, Raph sarcastically replied, "Oh! That's really interesting! Thanks for sharing, Donnie."

"Meathead, the conduits are all converging that way, which means that whatever is going on that direction is important!"

Leo smiled at him, pointing at their brainiac brother, who started walking in the direction where the power conduits were all directing towards together and followed him.

Mikey laughed, pointing at him, "You got spanked."

Not in the mood for his baby brother's remarks, Raph grabbed his finger, squeezing the life out of it.

"Ow! Ow! Mercy!"

Once he let go, Mikey stuck his throbbing finger into his mouth, grumbling, "Not cool."

Emi sigh and shook her head at the young turtle before patting Raph on the shell. He looked at her. She smiled, "You didn't know. So don't be too down about it."

He grunted before following the other two. Looking back at Mikey, she waved for him, "Come on, Mikey." He nodded and started running with her to catch up with the others.

Following the power conduits, it took them a while until they came across a door that they have never crossed before. Donnie took a look inside and announced, "We found 'em!"

Before they could do anything to get them out of the cell, gun fires were heard. They all looked to see Kraang droids running down the hall towards them, firing their plasma guns. Taking out their weapons, Leo gave his orders to Donnie, "We'll hold them off! You pick the lock."

With that said, they ran and started to decapitate every droid. As they kept destroying, more of the enemies kept on coming. Deflecting a laser, Emi threw one of her tessens, decapitating two droids of their head and limbs. Catching her weapon, Leo grabbed her attention, "They got the door opened."

She nodded at his words and started following him and the boys to the cell. When they got there, the cell had been opened on the other side. Seeing lasers being shot at them, they didn't stay long to fight and ran to follow where the enemies took the family to.

They kept running down the hallway until they couldn't see where the family had gone. Stopping at an intersection, Leo huffed, "Great. Now which way did they go?"

Sniffing the air, Emi sniffs for the girl's scent. It didn't take her long until she caught a whiff of it. Pointing down at their right, she started running, "This way!"

Without any complaint, the turtle brothers followed her down the hallway while trying not to get shot at. The hallway seemed to not have any more intersections since it led them straight to a metal door. Looking behind them, Emi could see that the Kraang droids were catching up to them and they needed the door opened.

Slowing down her breathing, she exhaled slowly for a few seconds before pumping her legs with a burst of speed. What should've taken them at least three minutes to get to the door, it had taken Emi at least thirty seconds as she ran and pushed the double doors wide open. Screeching to a halt, she turned back around and held the doors wide open, "Come on!"

They didn't need her to tell them twice as they kept running until they finally got out of the building. Once they were all out, Leo shouted, "Get the door!"

Grabbing the doors from their little sister, Raph was about to shut it until he saw a Kraang droid almost out of the door. He quickly tried to close the door on it however, he wasn't fast enough as the droid was caught between the closed doors, trying to reach for his face. Grunting, Raph down elbowed its arm before grabbing a hold of it and kicked its face, sending it through the doors, its arm in his hand.

Before he fully closed the doors, he saw that more droids have come right after it. Quickly closing it, he stuck the arm between the handle as a lock. Relief that none of them were able to get through, he looked at his siblings, "That'll hold 'em."

They all blinked at him, surprised at what he just did.

Confused, he asked, "What?"

"You are seriously twisted," Leo answered.

Seeing that as a compliment, Raph smiled, "Thanks."

Their attention was quickly grabbed when they heard the girl shouted, "No! Let me go!"

Looking over where her voice was heard, they watched as the girl and her father were being escorted up on a ramp towards a helicopter.

"Let's get 'em!" Leo ordered.

They all followed his order and started running towards them. They didn't get too far, however, until a giant plant stopped them in their tracks. Slowly looking up at it, their eyes widen.

"Uh-oh," Mikey quietly said.

Once they fully looked at it, the plant screeched before angrily looking down at them, "You did this to me! Now you're going to pay!"

They slowly took a couple of steps back with their weapons drawn at it, ready in case it decided to attack. Flickering her ears, Emi slowly asked, "His voice… Is that…?"

"It's Snake! He mutated into a… giant weed!" Leo answered her unfinished question.

Hearing his words seemed to have upset the now mutated man as he angrily screeched and growl at them.

Not understanding something, Mikey turned to their red terrapin brother, "That's weird. You'd think he'd get mutated into a snake."

"Yeah, you would, if you were an idiot," Raph angrily replied.

"But his name is Snake."

"So?"

Mikey rolled his eyes, "You don't understand science."

Running between the two, Emi put a hand on their plastron and pushed them a bit away from each other, "Now's not the time, boys. Focus your attention on plant guy for now."

They turned their attention back to Snake when his stalk was split in two, creating legs for him. He growled down at them, "I'll crush you turtles."

"Oh cool. Guess he doesn't hate me," she replied, smiling at the boys. They ignored her.

"Uh, would it help if we said it was an accident?" Donnie asked, trying to see if he could apologize.

His words of apology seemed to not be accepted when Snake screeched and readied his clawed hands towards them.

Donnie chuckled nervously, "So, heh, I'll put you down for a no?"

Instead of answering him, Snake waved his vine arm straight at them. Donnie, Leo, and Emi jumped, dodging the attack. Raph and Mikey, on the other hand, were too slow, getting hit instead. Both Emi and Leo ran toward the mutated man and slashed at his vine arms, cutting them right off. He hissed, waving his now decapitated arm around, sending purple like saps around.

Mikey, who was still on the ground, scooted backward, dodging the fallen saps while screaming, "Eww! Eww! Don't let it touch me! Don't let it _touch_ me!" His scream went unheard as it touched his leg, "Aah! It touched me!"

Running towards him, Emi grabbed his arm, pulling him up, "It's just sap, Mikey! Not like it's going to mutate you into part plant!"

"You never know!"

They focused their attention back on Snake when his decapitated vine started to regenerate.

"It grew back? No fair!" Donnie complained.

Hearing the engine of the helicopter powering up, they all looked up towards it. They could see the girl almost being escorted into the vehicle. Sheathing his sword, Leo looked at the brainiac, "Donnie! Go!"

Doing as he said, Donnie sheathed his bo staff and started to run towards the helicopter, getting a boost from Leo on the way.

While they waited for him to save the girl and her father, the rest of the siblings focused their attention back on Snake. They all ran at him and started to attack, cutting off his vines. Jumping over a vine that was about to slam into her, Emi looked up when she noticed that she had caught his attention.

He bent low until he was face to face with her, smirking, "You know. I'll let them live as long as you agree to be with me, beautiful."

Hearing his words, ticked Leo off as he growled lowly at the mutated man. Rolling her eyes, Emi put a hand on her hip, "How about no, weed face."

Growling, he swung a vine at her, "Your loss girl!"

Jumping out his range, she landed next to the boys. Leo grabbed her hand, "You okay?"

Looking at him, she smiled, "I'm fine."

Before he could say any more, their attention was grabbed when Raph was thrown back at them. All three of them caught him. Righting him back up on his feet, they all scowled at Snake until Mikey spoke in fear, "Snakeweed is really powerful!"

They all looked at him.

"Snakeweed?" Raph asked.

"Yeah! His name was Snake, and now he's a weed, so-"

Shaking their heads, Raph stopped him, "We get it!"

"I actually like weed face. But Snakeweed is good too," Emi added.

Taking steps forward, his katanas in hand, Leo focused back at the problem in hand, "We just have to hold it off until Donnie gets back."

Right when he finished, the door that they had just locked was slammed open. Kraang droids after Kraang droids came rushing out of the building, plasma guns in hand.

Emi looked at them and sarcastically said, "While not getting shot by alien robots. Whoopee."

"With brains!" Mikey added.

Rolling his eyes, Raph exhaustedly replied, "Let it go, man."

Readying their stances, they looked at both sides of themselves. Contemplating their enemies, Emi readied her tessens as she came back to back with Leo. He looked at her when she spoke, "I'm going to get rid of the alien robots. You guys do something about Snakeweed."

Worry about her safety, he quickly denied it, "No. You and _I_ will take care of the alien robots. Raph and Mikey, take care of Snakeweed."

Without any complaints, they followed his orders and went to fight their opponent. Dodging a laser that was aimed for her shoulder, she deflected another and sent her weapon flying, decapitating three Kraang droids at once.

Before she could catch her weapon, a laser was blasted at her hand, searing her hand in flame. She yelped, gaining Leo's attention. He looked at her when he saw her holding onto her hand, "Emi!"

Taking care of the droid in front of him, he quickly ran to her. Standing next to her, he hovered his hand in front of her, "Emi? Are you hurt?"

Instead of receiving an answer, a growl was emitted from her. When she lifted her head, his eyes widen when instead of seeing her golden eyes, they were now blood red.

"Emi?"

His voice seemed to snap her out of her anger as she closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breath. Once she got her anger under control, she opened her eyes and looked up at Leo. He sighed in relief when he saw her eyes returning back to normal. She nodded at him, "I'm fine, Leo. Thanks."

Still concern, he nodded.

Feeling something about to slam into them, Emi wrapped her arms around Leo's waist, making the blue leader blush, and jumped. Landing them safely back on their feet, she looked around and saw that Snakeweed had slammed their brothers onto the ground, including the Kraang's.

Groaning, Raph looked at them, "What's the plan again, chief?"

Shaking his head from the blush, Leo focused his mind back at the battle in hand. He looked over at the red terrapin, "I'm working on it."

"Oh. Yeah. Sure you are. By making sure that your _girlfriend_ is okay!"

"She's not my-"

Before he could finish, his ankle was grabbed by Snakeweed, dangling him up in the air.

"Leo!" Emi shouted. She picked up her discarded tessen and started running toward him to help. Snakeweed kept swinging his vines at her, not letting her get any closer to the blue terrapin.

Avoiding another vine aimed at her, she jumped back and landed back next to Raph and Mikey. Growling lowly in her throat, Emi was about to swing her tessen at the vine that was holding Leo up until he shouted at them, "The power conduits."

"Are we really gonna start talking about that again?" Raph frustratedly asked, still not over about the whole thing earlier.

Emi put a hand on his shoulder, making him look at her. The look in her eyes made him calm before nodding at her, silently thanking her before turning their attention back to their leader.

Leo looked over at the power conduits, which was connected to a power generator by the wall.

"Perfect."

Looking back at the others, he shouted, "Raph! Mikey! Emi!"

They looked up at him when he put one of his swords in his mouth and started signing to them. Knowing exactly what he wanted, they nodded and started running to gain the enemies attention. Once Leo cut himself off from Snakeweed's hold, Emi ran next to him, "That was very unsanitary you know that?"

He raised an eyebrow at her, "What was?"

"Putting your sword in your mouth. You had cut many things with it and yet you stuck it in your mouth." She then points at him, "Once this is over and we're back home, you're washing your mouth."

Chuckling, he nodded, "Later."

Smiling, they focused back on the plan and started to gain the Kraang's attention. When they got the enemies firing where they wanted, Leo went over to Snakeweed and started to insult him, making Emi giggle at his antics.

After they made the Kraang explode the power generator with Snakeweed connected to it, they ran towards where Donnie was with the girl and ran. Both Leo and Raph helped boosted them all over the wall, besides Emi, who stayed on top of it and helped them over.

Once they were all safely together, they nodded and started running towards the buildings, up the fire escapes, and up on the rooftops. Before any of them could calm and make sure they were all okay, Leo silently gave them a signal that they should be far away from the enemies base first. Nodding at his plan, they ran and jumped.

Making sure that they were far enough, Leo stopped them, "Alright. This is good enough. I doubt the Kraang will be able to find us here."

They all nodded. Turning their attention back to the girl, everyone smiled at her, besides Raph. Taking a step forward, Leo introduced them, "Hi, the names Leonardo. Leo's fine though. And this is Raphael, Michelangelo, and Emi. I think you already met Donatello."

The girl nodded, "April."

Mikey went up to her, "Just call me Mikey. Or Mikester. Or-"

He was interrupted with a slap to the head by Raph, "Shut up. She gets it already."

Knowing the boys too well, Emi intervened before they started another argument in front of the girl, "It's quite late. Do you know anyone whom you are able to stay with, April?"

Without any hesitation, she answered, "Yeah. I have an aunt who lives here. Her home's not far from here."

Turning to look at Leo, he knew what she wanted to do and nodded, "Alright. We'll take you to her."

With a silent agreement, they all started to go to April's aunt's place, Donnie carrying her the way there.

It didn't take them too long until they finally arrived. Donnie, who was still carrying April, dropped her down in the alleyway next to the building and waited for her until she got inside. They all waited up on the roof, waiting to see if she was going to stay here or not. A couple of minutes have passed until the lights in the room near them were turned on.

Quickly hiding in case it might be her aunt, they mentally sigh in relief when they saw that it was only April. She started whispering for them, "Guys? Uh…"

Before she could say any more, they all silently dropped down in front of her, making her jump. Donnie chuckled nervously, "S-sorry."

She smiled, "It's fine."

It was silent between them until Donnie broke it, "Are you gonna be alright?"

Sighing, April answered, "I guess. My aunt says I can stay here as long as I want…" She then huffed angrily, "but I'll be a lot better when I track down the creeps that took my dad."

"Won't the police help?" Leo asked.

She dryly chuckles, "Funny thing. When you tell them your dad was kidnapped by alien brains in robot bodies, they don't take you all that seriously."

Mikey nodded in total understanding, "I hear that."

They looked back at April when Donnie spoke, "April, I promise you we will not rest until we find him."

"We won't?" Raph asked, earning himself an elbow to the plastron by their white-haired sister. She narrowed her eyes at him, "No, we won't."

April thanked them, "Thank you, but it's not your fight."

Putting a hand on her's, Donnie softly replied, "Yes, it is."

The two smiled at each other. April smiling in appreciation while Donnie blushed at the contact and her smile.

Emi elbowed Leo, smirking, "Smoothed."

He chuckled, "What? You like that kind of thing?"

Jumping up on the rail, she made a grab for the ledge of the rooftop before swishing her tail at him, "Well, it is kind of romantic in a way." With that, she started to lift herself up.

Thinking about her words, Leo smiled and started to follow after her. Once they were up on the roof, he and the others started following her as they jumped to another rooftop to go back to the closest manhole that was near their lair.

Landing themselves back into the sewers, Emi walked ahead of the others with Donnie and Mikey beside her, chatting on what they were going to do once they get back home. Leo and Raph, on the other hand, walked a few paces behind them.

It was quiet between the two until Raph questioned him, "So, you going to take what she said seriously?"

Looking at his brother from his peripheral vision, Leo shrugged, "We'll see."

"You might as well. I mean, she did say it kind of _romantic_."

Taking a deep breath, he sighs, "That's the thing, Raph. I don't know if she'll have the same feeling as I do her. I mean, she might just only see me as a brother. Not… not anything more."

That earned him a punch on the shoulder from the red terrapin.

"Ow!"

Rubbing his hit shoulder, he looked over at his brother. Raph grunted, his eyes narrowing at him, "Than you need to step up your game and start doing something about it. I mean, Emi's my little sister too, but at least it's better her being with you than some other guy that we may not even know about. Would you really want to lose her to some guy without even telling her how you feel?"

Imagining Emi with a guy, a human boy at that angered and hurt Leo. The jealousy of seeing her with someone else burned him. But, if she was happy with the guy than he had no choice but to let her go. Just by thinking about that made his heart broke. Closing his eyes, his breathing became a bit short as he could hear his heart thumping loudly in his ears.

No. He couldn't lose her. Not to some random guy that they may or may not know about in the near future.

"-eo… ey! -eo!"

A far away voice was heard in his ears. But he couldn't focus on their voice as his imagination on losing Emi forever ran through his mind.

"Emi! Some- is wrong -th Leo!"

"Leo? Leo, What's wrong? Leo!"

He was snapped out of his thoughts. His vision was blurry, not quite making out the forms that stood in front of him. Feeling a soft hand on his cheek, he quickly blinked his eyes and saw Emi standing right in front of him. Her face held concern for him as she looked directly into his eyes.

Running her thumb on his cheek, she asked worriedly, "Are you alright now, Leo? Raph said you started to hyperventilate out of nowhere."

Putting a hand over her hand that was on his face, he smiled warmly at her, "Yeah. I'm fine now, Emi. Thanks."

Sighing in relief, she smiles, "Don't scare me like that, Leo. I wouldn't know what to do if you had collapsed out of nowhere."

"Sorry to worry you, Emi. But I'm fine now. Honestly."

She pursed her lips, "If you say so."

Intertwining their hands together, he started pulling her towards the direction of the lair, "Come on. I think Master Splinter is waiting for us."

Agreeing, she let him pull her with him as they walked back to the lair. The others walking a few paces in front of them. Raph threw a few concern looks behind him, making sure that Leo was definitely alright.

When he saw him happily chat with Emi, he knew that his older brother would be alright.

It didn't take them long until they arrived. Splinter, just like Leo had said, was standing by the pool with the tire swings, waiting for their return. Letting go of their intertwined hand, Emi rushed over to their father and hugged him, "We're home, Father."

Smiling warmly at her, he hugged her tightly to him, "Welcome home, my daughter." Letting go of her, he looked up at the boys and smiled at them, "As to you all as well, my sons. Welcome home."

They all smiled, "We're home, Sensei."

~Next morning~

After their morning training, Emi and the brothers were about to leave the dojo until Splinter stopped Leonardo.

"Leonardo."

Stopping in their tracks, all the siblings looked at each other before looking at the said turtle. Knowing exactly what their father wanted to talk to the older terrapin about, she started pushing them out of the dojo, "It's nothing big guys. Leo's not in trouble."

Rolling his eyes, Raph replied sarcastically, "And how would you know?"

"I just do. Now come on. Stop stalling."

Not wanting to argue with her, they all started to walk out of the dojo, leaving the two alone. Splinter smiled at his daughter's understanding. Before she closed the door, she smiled and waved at them.

Once they left, Splinter looked over at his son and gesture for him to sit. Doing as he asked, Leo looked up at his father, "Is there something you need, sensei?"

He hummed, "We didn't have time yesterday seeing as how you and your siblings came home late last night. But I wish for you to relay how your mission had gone."

Nodding in understanding, Leo started to relay what happened in their mission. When he finished, Splinter smiled down at him, "I am impressed, Leonardo. You proved to be an effective Leader under the most difficult of circumstances."

Happy, Leo smiled, "Thank you, sensei. And I think I figured out why you made me Leader."

Curious, he asked, "Oh? Why is that?"

"Because you sensed inside me a true warrior's spirit that could forge us all into the heroes we are destined to become."

"No."

"No?" Leo asked, surprised by his father's blunt answer. "Then why did you make me Leader?"

"Because you asked," Splinter answered.

He stood up, "That's it? But you seemed so certain you were right."

Explaining himself further, Splinter replied, "As a Leader, you will learn that there is no right and wrong, only choices."

Understanding a little bit, Leo slowly asked, "So you could have chosen any of us?"

"Yes."

"Even Mikey?!"

Chuckling, Splinter walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "No. That would have been wrong." He then smiles fondly at him, "If you truly wished to know a reason why you have been chosen, Leonardo. Emi has suggested you herself."

"Really? B-but why?" he asked, shocked that Emi, out of all his siblings, chosen him to be the leader.

Running a hand on his goatee, Splinter answered, "It's because she saw something in you. What that reason is, she did not explain."

Surprised that the girl he had been crushing on for many years chose him to be their leader, words couldn't describe how he felt. There was excitement, adoration, but what made him love her, even more, was the admiration that he felt for her.

She was such a strong and willful girl. A very skillful kunoichi at that. So for her to choose him to be Leader, made him felt prideful and doesn't want to mess up his title even more now that he knows that she has chosen him out of all his brothers.

Smiling, he was about to reply back to their father until Mikey shouted, making the two wince from his loud voice, "Everybody! Come here! We made the news!"

Gathering together in the living area, they all watched as the News Reporter, reported ninja's being in New York. They even got evidence of it by showing an uploaded picture of their shuriken with their clan symbol on it.

Excited, Mikey shouted in glee, "This is awesome! We're gonna be famous!"

Not liking this news at all, Splinter voiced out his worries to them, "You must be more careful. The ninja's most powerful weapon is the shadows. Being brought out into the light is a dangerous thing."

"Relax, sensei. It's one little news story. What's the worst that can happen?" said Raph, not seeing what the big deal was.

Walking up to stand next to Leo and their father, Emi spoke, "Many, Raph."

He raised an eyebrow at her before shrugging. Sighing, she shook her head before looking up at their father, "Father, may I speak with you?"

He nodded, "Of course, Emi."

He started to trek back into the dojo with Emi not too far behind him. Leo had wanted to follow them as well, but seeing how serious the white-haired girl was, he decided to stay out of this.

Looking back at his brothers, he walked over and sat next to the hothead on the couch. Raph looked at him, "You alright?"

Humming, he looked at him, "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because of what happened yesterday."

Remembering, he sighs and nodded, "I… I'm fine, Raph. Really."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Raph mumbled quietly so their younger brothers wouldn't hear, "Look. About what I said yesterday… you know…"

Knowing exactly what he's talking about, Leo smiled at him, "It's alright Raph. And don't worry, I don't plan on losing her to anyone."

Smirking, he punched him in the arm before turning their attention back to the television.

~With Splinter and Emi~

Entering the dojo, Emi closed the door behind her and made her way to sit in front of the wise man. He looked down at her, "Is something wrong, my daughter?"

Taking a deep breath, she answered, "The enemies who we had encountered last night were the very same we had fought ten years ago."

He nodded, "I know. Especially when Michelangelo has first mentioned of them."

Nodding, she closed her eyes for a short while before opening it, looking down at the already healed injured hand. A frown made its appearance on her face, "During our fight, I got injured by one of the enemies lasers. I… I almost lost control that night. If Leonardo hadn't been there, I might've gone berserk."

Fully understanding her worries, he put a hand on her shoulder, "And yet, you did not. Emi, there will be a time when you will lose control because of your anger. But when it does happen, I know that you will be able to tell from your friends, your family, from your foes."

She looked up at him, hope shining in her golden bright eyes, "Do you really believe so?"

He smiled warmly at her, "I know so. When I had first encountered you, you had gone berserk. And yet, you did not harm me. You did, however, destroyed the enemies. So yes, Emi, I truly believe that you will be just fine."

Smiling, she hugged him, "Thank you, father."

Sighing fondly at her, he hugged her tightly to him, "You are very welcome, my dear."

~Meanwhile~

The newscast from New York that had broadcasted about ninja's being in their city was being watched by an armored man sitting on his throne in Japan. Rewinding the scene to go back onto the picture of the shuriken, his eyes narrowed at the recognizable symbol. A symbol that he had not seen for fifteen long years.

"So, my old enemy is in New York and training his own army. At last, I can finish what I started so long ago."

Without looking at his men, he ordered, "Prepare my jet."

Doing as he ordered, the man bowed and left. Standing from his seat, the armored man put on his Kabuto Helmet, not once taking his eyes off the screen.

"I'm going to visit an old friend."


	3. Chapter 3

**Turtle Temper**

It was another day for the Hamato family. After their saving of April O'Neil from the Kraang a few days ago, Donatello has been in his lab, researching for more of the Kraang's whereabouts and what they were going to do next. However, only had just come out of hiding, they barely know anything about their new-found enemies. So tracking them down and finding out about their plans were going to be quite difficult for the siblings.

Emi, sister to the terrapin brothers and adopted daughter to a ninja master, walked out of the dojo from another daily routine of self-training after the usual training with the boys. Closing her eyes, she stretched her arms high above her head while walking towards the living area.

"Had a nice training?"

Recognizing the voice right away, she opened her eyes and turned to the source with a smile, "Yeah. It was quite satisfying. Maybe you should try it with me next time, Leo."

He chuckled, "Last time I joined you, I was sore for a whole week Em."

She shrugs, a smirk plaster on her lips with her tail swishing mischievously, "That just means you don't take your training seriously."

"No. Your kind of training is just merely too intense for me to handle."

Walking up to him, she got close to him until they were chest to plastron. With a glint in her eyes, she replied, "Well then, guess you're just gonna have to… step up your game."

Emi was so close to him that if she was paying enough attention to his face, she would have seen it flush red at their closeness. With a smile, she giggles, taking a step away from him, "I'm just kidding, Leo. I wouldn't want you to suffer through my training again."

Composing himself, he nervously cleared his throat, trying to bring his mind back on track. But it was difficult as is. Not once has he ever seen Emi act like that around him at all. It was quite… enticing.

"Leo? Earth to Leo… You still in there?"

Shaking his head from his thoughts, he focuses his attention back on his secret crush/sister in front of him. She was waving her hand in front of his face, a worried look on her's. Nodding his head, he nervously replied, "Y-yeah. I'm fine, Emi."

Not believing him, she put a hand on his forehead, "Are you sure? 'Cuz you didn't respond to me for nearly a minute now. You're not coming down with a fever are you?"

Leo blushed at her touch and was about to tell her that he was fine until Raph interrupted, "Ah, leave 'im alone Em. Leo just needs to clear his head. Especially after what happened just earlier." He smirked at his last sentence, making Leo blushed, knowing exactly what his brother was talking about.

Not understanding, she tilts her head, "What happened earlier?"

Walking up to them, Raph crossed his arms in front of him, not losing his smirk at his older brother's slight embarrassment, "It's nothing. Anyways, Donnie asked me to get you. He said something about talking to you about something. Though knowing him, it's probably about April."

She smiled, "What's wrong with that? At least Donnie's trying to get the girl."

He shrugs, "Yeah. But I doubt it'll ever happen."

Huffing, she put her hands on her hip, tsking, "Don't be so negative, Raph. You never know, she might actually like him back. Besides, he's our brother, we should be supporting him." Turning away from him, she started her way towards the lab, "Anyways, I'm going to go see what he wants."

"I'm just telling the truth!" Raph loudly spoke before she closed the lab door behind her.

Leo was about to walk to sit in the living area until he saw a smug look on his brother's face, who was now looking at him. Uncomfortable, he slowly asked, "What?"

"Nothing," said Raph, shrugging.

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

Chuckling, Raph walked up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "Let's just say, you suck at flirting back."

Blushing in embarrassment, Leo stuttered, "W-wha-? I so do know how to flirt back!"

He laughed, crossing his arms in front of him, "Oh sure. You staring at her with a red face is totally flirting back."

Not knowing what to say, Leo grumbled, "Shut up," and went to sit on the couch, watching their baby brother playing his video game. Ignoring his brother's laughter behind him.

~With Emi~

After closing the lab door behind her, Emi looked around the brainiac's laboratory. The room was filled with many chemicals in beakers and bunsen burners on one side while there were contraptions that she knew that Donnie had created on the other. Looking around, she couldn't find the terrapin that had asked for her.

"Donnie?"

"Oh, Emi. Over here," Donnie replied from under the desk.

Raising an eyebrow, she walked up to see him picking up a couple of objects that were on the floor.

Wondering what happened, she asked, "Did something happened?"

He scoffed, "Mikey happened. As usual."

She ah'd before going back to what he wanted, "Raph told me that you needed to talk to me?"

Standing up with the objects in his arms, he set them down on the desk before answering, "Yeah. You see, I went to go check up on April today."

He stopped when he saw a smirk on her lips with a raised eyebrow, her arms crossed in front of her as she leaned on one leg. Knowing exactly what she was thinking about, he blushed and quickly replied, "Y-you know. Just to make sure the Kraang didn't kidnap her again."

Giggling, Emi calmed him down, "Donnie. It's okay. I'm not going to tease you about your feelings for her."

Relief, he sighed, "Thanks Emi." He then composed himself and stood up straight, "A-anyways. When I went to go to see her, April somehow found some information about the Kraang's next move."

Confused, she tilts her head, "How did she find out about that?"

He smiled a bit at how her ears flopped, making her look like a confused puppy before answering, "She said that she heard them when she saw two of them in broad daylight."

She frowned, "It's great that she found out about their next plan, but that was too dangerous for her. What happened if they saw her?"

"I told her the same thing. But her excuse was that it was daylight with people around, so the Kraang aren't able to do anything."

Shaking her head, she sighed, "They could have always lured her into the alleyway and kidnap her that way." Deciding to put April's safety aside, she looked up at the brainiac, "So, what was the plan that they decided to do?"

Walking to where his computer was, Donnie started to type away on it, "She didn't really quite hear what they were going to do other than the location that they were going to be at." He then brought up a map and showed it to her.

Walking over to look at the screen, she read the location and looked at the satellite area, "It's not really in an area where it's abandon. Most of the buildings are apartments with a couple of unused buildings. What will the Kraang's be doing there?"

He shrugs, "Dunno. Which is why we have to go there and find out. April said that they're going to be at the building tonight."

Frowning, she replied, "Let's just hope nothing happens tonight." Something then made her realize something, "By the way, why are you telling me this? I'm not the leader here, Donnie. Leo is."

"Yeah, I know. But if I told him and the others that April told me, they're just going to make fun of me."

Smiling, she put a hand on his shoulder, "Donnie, they're your brothers. Brothers tease each other about the girl they like. Even if you don't like it."

He slumped down on his chair, groaning, "I know."

"Anyways, if we're going to check out the place that April mentioned tonight. You should relay what you told me to Leo. We got to have a plan before encountering the enemies."

Nodding, he sighs and looks at her, "Yeah okay."

She put a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him reassuringly before exiting the lab. Leaving the door opened behind her, she could hear Donnie sigh before typing away on the computer.

"So, what did Donnie want?"

Looking over to where Raph was sitting on his bean bag chair with a comic book in hand and Leo sitting not too far next to him, she walked over and sat down on the couch next to the blue leader, "Not much other than information about the Kraang."

Leo quickly put his hands up, "Wait a minute. Donnie talked to _you_ about gaining information about the Kraang?"

She apologetically smiles at him, "Donnie didn't want you guys to know who he got it from?"

The two brothers looked at each other, knowing right away who it was. But Raph asked anyways, "Who?"

Debating on telling them, she looks at the both of them straight in the eyes, "Don't tease Donnie about it alright?"

Raising a hand, he replied, "Turtle's honor." He then mentally smirks, _'But no promises.'_

"April told him. Apparently, she saw two Kraangdroids and decided to listen in on their conversation."

Leo frowned in concern, "April should know that she shouldn't get too close to the Kraang's."

Shaking his head, Raph went back to reading his comic, "That girl is just going to get herself kidnap again."

Laying her head back, she sighed, "Tell me about it and you know how stubborn April can be, Leo."

Before he could reply, they jumped when Mikey shouted, "No! I was so close to beating the final boss level!"

Annoyed at his shouting, Raph grabbed a pillow that was near him and threw it straight at the young turtle's head, "Shut up, Mikey!"

"Ow!"

Grabbing the thrown pillow, Mikey stuck his tongue out at him before using it as his arm cushion and resume his game from the beginning. Their attention was taken away from him when Donnie stepped out of his lab, "Guys, I got word about the Kraang's next move. Come on!"

Without giving them a moment to ready themselves, he started to leave the lair already. The two brothers looked at each other and started to follow him. Leo stopped in his tracks when he noticed that Emi wasn't following him. Turning to look at her, he asked, "Emi? Aren't you coming?"

She shook her head, "You guys go on this one without me. I want to meditate with our father instead tonight."

Not wanting her to see him disappointed that she wouldn't be coming with them, he smiled, "Alright. We'll be back then."

She nodded, smiling in return, "Be safe, okay?"

He nodded before following the other two, who hadn't left yet because Raph had to go back and drag Mikey by his mask tail, who started whining about his video game.

~At the location~

They had arrived at the location that April had given to the purple terrapin a couple of hours ago and still, nothing has happened. Standing near the edge of the roof from the opposite of the building that the Kraang are supposed to hit, Donnie looked down at it with the telescope again.

"Anything?" asked Leo, wondering if there are any movements yet.

"Nothing yet."

While the two was keeping watch, the other two terrapin brothers were a couple of feet away. Raph was sitting while slowly losing his patient because of Mikey messing around with him. Having enough of his brother poking his head, he quickly grabbed a tight hold of Mikey's finger, squeezing the life out of it.

"Aah!"

Grimacing at Mikey's loud voice, Leo angrily turned to them, "Guys, when ninjas are on surveillance, they are supposed to be silent."

"Sorry, Leo. I'll scream quieter," Mikey apologized before going back to messing around with the hot-tempered brother again, laughing.

Having enough of Mikey messing with him, Raph threw him down on the roof, unknowingly breaking a satellite dish, and grabbed his baby brother, holding him in a headlock.

He growled, "Say it."

Before Mikey could say anything, Leo whispered-shouted at them, "Raph, be quiet!"

"Not till Mikey says it."

While Raph tortured Mikey to have him say that he was better than him, the two got louder and louder as which started to irritate Leo. When they weren't stopping anytime soon, he irritatedly whispered-shouted, "Okay, enough."

Mikey gasped and sigh in relief when the older got off of him, spit-free. Raph angrily walked up to them, "We're wasting our time. The Kraang aren't gonna show up."

"Have a little patience, will you?"

Donnie smiled at them, "Trust me, guys. They're gonna break into that lab tonight. I have reliable intel."

Raph smirked, pointing at him, "Intel? You mean April told you."

"You mean your girlfriend?" Mikey teasingly added, putting his hands under his chin while fluttering his eyes.

Irritated and embarrassed at his words, Donnie angrily turned to him, "She's not my girlfriend, Mikey." He then goes to explain, "She's a girl who's a friend, whose dad got kidnapped by the same aliens who are gonna break into that lab. And we're gonna stop 'em."

While he was talking, he didn't see his brothers smirking at each other before turning their attention back to him.

"Who told you guys that I got intel from April anyways? The only one who I told that to was…" He quietly trailed off when he realized that Emi had told them after he had talked to her.

"Or we'll sit out on a cold roof all night for no reason. And yeah, Emi told us," Raph replied until the door to the roof was slammed open.

Looking over, they saw a fat angry man by the rooftop entrance, "What the heck's going on up here?"

The boys blinked at being caught by a human. Instead of screaming in fright at the sight of them, the man quizzically look at them, "What are you playing dress up?"

"No, sir. We were just-" Leo started, about to explain until the man's sight went towards the broken satellite dish that was next to them.

Angry, he pointed, shouting at them, "Which one of you slimy green Ham Shanks busted my satellite dish?"

"Ham Shanks?" Raph angrily shouted, hating the insult.

Scratching his head, Donnie quietly replied, "I don't even know what that means."

"Me neither. But I don't like it."

He was going to make a grab for his sais until Leo stopped him by grabbing a hold of his wrist, "Let's go."

They were all about to leave until the man insulted them again, making Raph stop in his track, "That's right, you spineless cream puff! Listen to your mommy!"

Angry at his insult, this has resulted in Raph wanting to pulverize the man while he kept throwing insults at them. It was also thanks to their loudness of throwing insults at each other, it had caught the Kraang's attention, who were transporting mutagen in a van.

While the brothers tried to keep their angry brother from pulverizing the man, none of them had noticed the Kraangdroids climbing up to the rooftops. They had finally take noticed when Raph almost got his head blasted off by a laser from the plasma guns.

"Kraangdroids!" Leo shouted.

"Holy Toledo!"

Grabbing their weapons, Leo glared over at their tempered brother, "Way to blow our position, Raph."

It was during this kind of time, that he wished that Emi was here. She could've settled the matter before things got too out of hand. And she would have been able to warn them of the enemies. Shaking the wishful thinking away, he focused on taking care of the Kraangdroids with his brothers.

Long story short, the Kraang's escaped as they got defeated by the terrapin brothers while the man got them on video with his phone.

~Back at the Lair~

Deeply inhaling before exhaling, Emi cleared her mind of all thoughts and trouble as she meditated in the dojo. She had been in there ever since the boys have left, with Master Splinter meditating himself next to her.

The room was quiet, calm, and serene as they slowly let their mind travel into the astral world. A world that was filled with millions of stars in a world of darkness.

As Emi floated in the astral world, peace was the only thing she felt throughout both her spirit and soul until a prickling of something negative poked itself into her mind. Frowning, she tried to concentrate, trying to grasp on that negative feeling. But it was as if it didn't want her to grasp it.

Like a human teasing a dog, the feeling kept getting pulled back every time she tried to grab it.

"Emi."

A voice spoke. A voice that she recognized and yet, not able to remember where… or from whom. Deciding to ignore it, she went back to her mission at hand and tried to make a grab for it again.

"Emi, it is time to come back."

Again. The voice called out to her again. Turning away from the feeling, she couldn't help but frown when she could feel it poking at her mind. Growling, she waited patiently until it poked her again. When it did, she quickly tried to snatch it. But like water, it flowed away from her. She growled frustratedly when it got away from her.

"Emi!"

The voice was so strong that the astral world around started to disappear as she was brought out of it and back into her body. Quickly opening her eyes, she blinked a couple of times when she saw that her sight has become quite blurry.

Once she was able to regain her sight back, she looked up at her adopted father, who was looking down at her in concern next to her. Rubbing her eye, she asked, "You called for me, Father?"

He put a hand on her shoulder, "Emi, I have been calling for you many times now. Did something happened in your meditation that you did not come back from my first call?"

Frowning, she looked down at her hands, "I… I don't know."

"You do not know. Or you can not explain?"

Pursing her lips, she looks back up at him, "It's just… while I was in deep meditation, there was this feeling."

Intrigued, he let her continue as he quietly sat and listened.

"When I was meditating, all I felt was peace around me. A serenity like when our family is together. It was so warm and relaxing that I just merely let myself float while I basked in that warmth. Until…"

"Until?"

Frowning, she looks back down at her hands, "There was this… feeling. A negative feeling. This feeling just kept on poking me in my mind, taunting me, as if it's trying to tell me something. And yet, every time when I tried to grab a hold of it, it just keeps slipping away. And then, just when I thought I finally got a hold of it, it slipped away from me like water."

Humming, Splinter started running a hand on his goatee as he thought about her experience.

She looks up at him, worry making its appearance in her eyes, "Father. I don't know what it is. But I think something bad is going to happen. It may not be now, but I think that negative feeling is trying to tell me that it will happen soon."

Knowing exactly how she feels, he put a hand on her shoulder, "You may be right about it, Emi. But right now, do not let that feeling bother you or else you will let fear blind you from helping your brothers. It is like you said, whatever that feeling is trying to tell you is not now. So do not let it dwell on your mind."

Thinking about his words, she nodded, "Hai, Father."

The silence between them was then cut when they heard the boy's voices, letting them know that they were home. But instead of shouting of excitement and a job well done, there were shouts of anger. Looking at each other, both father and daughter got up from their sitting position and calmly walked out of the dojo and into the living area.

There, they saw Leo shouting at an angry Raph, "If you had listened to me and actually stopped messing with Mikey, we wouldn't have failed on our mission!"

"Hey, don't you dare put this on me!"

"Oh, I can't? 'Cuz I know that I certainly can! I mean, if you had listened to me when I said to go, we wouldn't even be in this mess!"

"He called us Ham Shanks! I couldn't let that go!"

"You don't even know what that means!"

When the father and daughter noticed that the shouting was getting them nowhere, Splinter decided to stop their argument by slamming his cane down, "Enough!"

His booming voice immediately stopped the two brothers shouting as they all turned to look at him. Splinter narrowed his eyes down at them, "What has happened on your mission?"

Looking at one another, they all sat in front of him and Emi, sitting side-by-side as Leo explained what happened. When he finished, Emi sighed. She knew that Raphael had a tempered problem but she didn't know that it was that bad where he couldn't just let it go.

Then again, she was one to talk when it came to her and her anger. She focused back at the situation at hand when their father spoke as he paced in front of the boys, "Not only did Raphael alert the Kraang, but you got caught… on video." He looked straight at the turtle at fault when he said the last part.

Defending himself, Raph looked up at him, "Sensei, he was the angriest, nastiest guy you ever met."

Mikey leaned next to him, smiling, "Except for you." That earned him a punch on the head by the hot-tempered turtle.

"Ow!"

Emi shook her head at their baby brother as he rubs his head while Raph continues, "You should have heard the insults this guy was throwing at us. They were so… insulting!"

Disappointed and angry, Splinter replied, "Oh, I did not realize he said mean things. Of course, you had no choice but to jeopardize your mission."

"Burn~," Mikey said teasingly, angering Raph even more.

Ignoring the orange terrapin, Splinter continues as he paces in front of them, "You are ninjas. You work in the shadows, in secret. This becomes difficult if there is proof of your existence in high-definition."

"Look, we know where this guy lives. All we need to do is find him and shake him until the tape pops out," Raph suggested.

"Oh, there's no tape. Video phones use flash memory-" Donnie started until he stopped when he saw the angry look on Raph's face.

Seeing this, Splinter warned him, "Anger is self-destructive."

Not looking at him, Raph replied, "I always thought it was others-destructive."

He flinched when Master Splinter shouted, "Raphael! Stand up."

Doing as he said, he stood up from where he sat. He glared down at his baby brother when he started to tease him, "Somebody's in trouble~"

Sighing, Emi gestured for them all to follow, "Dojo. All of you."

They looked up at their father, seeing him nod in confirmation, and started to stand and follow her. Once they stepped inside, they all saw her going over to the weapon racks where the bows were and grabbed three of them. She had also grabbed the Petron arrows, non-lethal that has plungers instead of arrowheads, and started to hand them to Leo, Donnie, and Mikey.

Splinter nodded at her in appreciation as he ordered the boys, "Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, take position."

Understanding what he wants them to do, they nodded and started to stand farther away from each other. Splinter than looks down at Raph, "Raphael, center position."

Doing as he said, he walked into the center of the three as they propped the Petron arrows on their bows and took aim. Once he saw that they were all in position, Splinter ordered the red terrapin, "Evade the arrows."

Seeing that that was all he has to do, he smirks, "No problem."

"Hajime!"

While the boys started to fire their arrows, Emi went to stand next to their father as she calmly evaded the arrows. They watch Raph dodging each and every one of them flawlessly. When he dodged the last arrow by Donatello, the arrow flew itself straight towards Splinter's face, resulting in him catching it in his hand.

"Ya Me!"

They stopped at his command, waiting for his next order.

"Again, except this time, Leonardo, Donatello, and Michelangelo insult Raphael."

Emi mentally grimaced, knowing that Raph won't be able to handle the insults too well.

"Wait. Insult _him_?" Donatello asked, pointing at the hot-tempered turtle with an arrow.

"Yes," Splinter replied.

"And he can't fight back?"

"No."

Laughing, Donnie grinned with his brothers, "I'm feeling good about this plan."

Once he was done, Splinter made them began, "Hajime!"

Taking aim, Mikey started to chuckle, being the first to insult him, "You move like a bloated buffalo."

Raph dodged his arrow by windmilling down on the ground before standing back up on the defense, shouting, "I do not!"

"And you're always whining. "Poor me. Nobody understands me," Leo insulted next.

Emi mentally sighed at Leo's words as Raph replied, "Well, you don't understa-" He was interrupted when he got struck by Leo's arrow.

"Gah!"

"And… Oh! You don't keep your back straight when doing _Omote Kote Gyaku_ ," Donnie said after. When his arrow hit him, he quickly said after, "And you're ugly!"

"And gassy!" Mikey added, laughing.

"Stop it!"

"Oh, you talk so tough, but inside, you're just a scared little baby," said Leo, releasing an arrow.

"Who needs his bottle?" Donnie taunted.

"And his diaper changed?"

"What's the matter, Raph? Gonna cry?"

"I am-Ooh-Not gonna cry!"

They all stopped firing when Raph fell from being shot in the face by an arrow. Sighing in bliss, Mikey spoke, "I wish this moment could last forever."

Getting up from the floor, Raph angrily threw his sais down, "You know what? Forget this. This is stupid."

Mikey groaned, "Agh! It didn't." He took a step back when he thought Raph was going to hurt him when he saw him turn. Instead, he went to stand in front of their Sensei.

Looking down at him, Splinter spoke, " _Ninniku Seishin_ is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility. You cannot be a true ninja until you master it."

Mikey started laughing at him, which earned him silent growling anger from Raph. He stopped when Splinter demand questioned him, "Understood?"

Looking down at his clenched fist, Raph let his silent anger go as he responded back to him, "Hai sensei."

"You must get that video back, Using reason, not force."

He silently nodded at their father's words. Seeing his son understanding, he dismissed them all, "For now, you all need to rest. Goodnight."

They all bowed and replied their own goodnights as they watched their father walked into his room to rest. Once he has gone into his room, Emi turned to the boys and started to gather the bows from them before plucking the arrows off from Raph.

When she was done, the brothers left the dojo to go to their room for the night. Putting the bows and arrows back on the weapon racks, Emi had put them back to the way how they were before.

Turning to leave the dojo, she stopped when she saw that not all of the brothers have left. Leo had stayed behind when she was putting the stuff away. Walking up to him, she softly asked, "Is there something you needed, Leo?"

Rubbing the back of his neck, he frowned, "Do you think… If you had gone with us tonight. That none of this would've happened?"

She shook her head, "Whether if I had gone or not. I don't think it would've changed anything."

"Really? I mean… You're really great at calming down Raph. If you had been there, maybe he could have ignored the guy, we could have done the mission well, and _not_ have been caught on video."

Understanding that he was stressed, she walked closer to him. Putting a hand on his cheek, she made him look at her, "Leo, even _if_ I was there. Nothing would've changed. You said that the man came up to the roof because Raph and Mikey accidentally broke his satellite dish. Well, if I had been there, I wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Raph only calms down because I understand him. But with what you had explained about what happened on the mission, the man insulting you all and Raph. There would have been nothing I could've done. Raph would still go on a rampage and tried to do the man's face in no matter what."

Sighing, he put a hand over hers, "I guess you're right… I'm sorry."

She smiled, "You're forgiven."

Returning her smile, he gently squeezed her hand, "We should probably head to bed."

She nodded, "We should."

Taking her hand in his, he started to walk them to their rooms. Arriving in front of Emi's room, he watched as she opened her door and enter it. He thought she was going to close it behind her so he started to go towards his room, which was next door until he felt a hand on his.

Looking back, he saw Emi smiling up at him, "I'm glad you and the others are alright, Leo. Goodnight." She gave him a chaste kiss on his cheek before entering her room, closing the door behind her.

Frozen on his spot, Leo slowly brought a hand up to the spot that she kissed on. His heart had stopped beating a minute when he had felt her soft lips make contact on his skin. He didn't know what his face looked like right now but he can guess that a goofy smile had plastered itself on it. Giggling, he quietly fist pumped and started jumping, still in front of the girl's bedroom door.

"Why are you jumping up and down with a weird look on your face?"

He instantly stopped at the voice and quickly turned to look at the source that belonged to it. He froze stiff still when he saw that it was none other than Donatello. Quickly composing himself, Leo awkwardly coughed into his fist, "Donnie~ I thought you were in your room… asleep."

"I would be if I didn't have to go and get something from my lab," he replied. He then raises an eyebrow, "So… You going to tell me what you were doing earlier while standing in front of Emi's door?"

Standing stiffly still, Leo faked a yawn as he stretches his arms above his head, "Oh, would you look at the time." Quickly opening his bedroom door, he smiles brightly at his younger brother, "It's late. So I bid you goodnight and sweet dreams. Night!" He then slams the door closed, locking it.

Blinking, Donnie raised an eyebrow as he kept staring at his elder brother's bedroom door, "Okay…"

~Next day~

The day was the usual routine with the Hamato Family. Breakfast, training, do whatever they want, train again in the afternoon, do whatever they want again, and then when night comes, patrol.

Throughout the entire day, the lesson that Master Splinter had given to Raph last night had not once left his mind. Which made him brood about it the entire day.

The siblings have also noticed and decided not to bother him in case he might blow up on them. So when they left for patrol tonight, the terrapin brothers were cautious of their ticking time bomb.

Emi had not gone with them again. Which sadden Leo but he pushed that aside and decided to focus on their purpose at hand.

When they had left, Emi had decided to go back to meditate to grasp onto the feeling that she had felt last night. Walking into the dojo, she sat under the tree and started to close her eyes. Clearing her mind of all thoughts, she was about to meditate herself back into the astral world until Splinter broke her concentration, "I see you are meditating again."

Opening her eyes, she looks up at him and smiles, "It's the one thing I love when calming one's mind."

Chuckling, he sat next to her, "That is true." Before she could go back to her meditation, he asked, "You are not doing this because of that negative feeling, are you?"

Not like lying to him, she sighs, "It is because of that."

"Emi. I had told you-"

"I know. But I feel as if, if I don't try to at least figure out what it's trying to tell me, it would keep on bothering me in the back of my mind."

Sighing, he put a hand on her head, making her look up at him, "Whether if it is or not. It will not do you well if you keep on dwelling on this."

Knowing that he was right, she sighed, "Hai, Father."

Smiling at her understanding, their attention was soon grabbed when they heard a grumbling Raph returning quite too soon from their mission. Looking at the entrance of the dojo, she could hear the red terrapin's growls and grumbling.

She softly spoke, "I don't think the mission went well."

Splinter sighed, "It would seem you are correct."

Getting up from the floor, they exited the dojo, hearing Raph complain in the kitchen. Knowing exactly who he was ranting to, the two look at each other before walking towards the kitchen. When they got there, they could hear him complain loud and clear.

"Who does Leo think he is? So what if I got a temper? I'm still the best fighter we've got. In fact if anything my anger makes me a better fighter. You understand me, don't you, Spike? Chew on your leaf if you understand me."

Emi raised an eyebrow at his small and simple request from the pet turtle as it did as he asked.

"Yeah, I thought so."

"I understand you too," Splinter announced himself, scaring Raph.

Emi giggled as she walked into the kitchen behind their father. She stood next to him while Raph replied, "Seriously, you gotta knock or something."

Splinter ignored him as he continues, "Raphael, let me tell you a story."

"Sensei, I'm not in the mood for a story."

Turning away from him, their father asked the red terrapin's pet turtle instead, "Spike, chew on your leaf if you are in the mood for a story."

Emi couldn't help but giggle when the little pet turtle did as he asked.

"Very well." He then started, "When I was a young man, I fell in love with a woman."

Not wanting to listen to his story, Raph got up and quickly tried to make an excuse, "Oh, hey. Is it that late?"

"Sit."

Emi laughed when her brother wasn't able to escape their father's lecture. Sighing, Raph sat back on his chair as Splinter continues, "Her name was Tang Shen and I was not the only one who loved her. There was another man competing for her attention-Oroku Saki."

Knowing exactly who he was talking about, Raph quietly spoke, "Shredder."

"One day, he insulted me in front of her. He called me many things. I felt I could not let those insults go unanswered. So I lost my temper. And over time, our rivalry festered into hatred… until Shredder sought to finish me… and I lost my beloved Tang Shen."

Emi could tell that re-telling this story over again, still hurt him to this day as he turns away from his son. She looks back at Raph when he spoke, "But-But it wasn't your fault. Shredder insulted you. You had no choice."

She mentally shook her head when he had said the wrong words.

"No choice?" Splinter spoke, looking back at him. "I could have chosen to ignore him. I could have chosen to let his words wash over me… like a river over stone. But I let him anger me. It was I who made his words into weapons."

Walking up to his son, Splinter looks down at him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "That's the choice _I_ made. What choice will you make."

Once their father left the kitchen, Emi watched Raph sit back in his seat, watching as Spike continues eating his lettuce. Seeing as how he was lost, she went to sit next to him.

It was silent between the two of them until Raph spoke up, "I know I shouldn't have let his insults get to me. But I just can't help it. My temper… it just gets to me, ya' know?"

"That may be true, Raph. But out of all of our brothers… your temper is what keeps us together sometimes," she softly replied.

He gave her a skeptical look, "What? How?"

Humming, she looks at him, "Well, let's see. Your anger tends to cause a lot of problems because once you lose it, you won't listen to any one of us if we tried to either speak or reason with you."

He narrows his eyes at her, "That's not really-"

"Your irritation of others calling you names, like yesterday, causes pain for no one understanding how you feel," she continues, interrupting him.

"Em, I don't think-"

"But it's because of these two temper problems of yours, is what makes you, you Raph," she finishes.

He didn't respond as he was confused by what she meant. And it would seem she understood his confusion by her words as she put a hand over his, "Raph. Your anger is what defines you as intelligence is to Donnie, an open mind is to Leo, and a childish yet kind and understanding is to Mikey.

"It's also thanks to your temper, that it made you into a very strong and protective brother today. The others may not see it, but as I was growing up with you all, I've noticed how you would be the one who trained the hardest. The one who tries to become strong not just to beat our brothers in training, but also to protect us when there is a situation that will put our lives in danger. So if anything Raph, instead of using the words that the man or anyone else insults you with to fuel your anger and blind you from the danger that will hurt you, use it to strengthen yourself. Make yourself stronger with that anger without losing sight of your enemies that are in front of you."

It was quiet between the two until Raph groaned, "Man, can't believe I just got taught a lesson by my own little sister."

She smiled, "Your welcome!"

Laughing, he ruffled her hair, gaining a pout from her, "That wasn't a compliment Em."

Getting a tongue stuck out at him was his only response back from the girl. Smiling, he got up from his seat and started to leave the kitchen. Emi following close behind.

When they were near the entrance, she spoke, "So, going back to help our brothers?"

Before he could jump over the turnstiles, he looks over at her, "Well you know them. They won't be able to take care of themselves without me."

She giggles, "True." Looking at him, she smiled, "Good luck and be careful out there, Raph."

Returning the smile, he gave her a thumbs up before exiting the lair.

When she couldn't hear his footsteps anymore, Emi was about to turn to watch a little Space Heroes while waiting for the boys return until she saw Splinter by the tire swing. She jumped when she saw him, her heart beating a mile a minute. Putting a hand over her startled heart, she took deep calming breaths to calm it down.

As she was doing that, she looks over at him, "Geez Father, Raph is right. You really do got to knock or something. You could literally scare someone to death like that."

He chuckles, "Apologies my dear."

Shaking her head, she walked over to the couch and sat. Splinter walked over and went to sit next to her, "What you had said to Raphael… was something I couldn't have said better myself."

Looking up at him, she smiles, "Thank you, Father. But what I told him was merely the truth. He pretty much reminded me of myself when I was younger before I met any of you."

He hummed, "I remember you telling me. A year before you came to our world I believe."

She nodded, "That's right."

"And so you believe turning his anger into strength will make him become stronger?"

"It will. As long as he is not blinded," she replied. "It's like you said, a river over stone."

It was quiet between them until Splinter stood up, "I will be meditating until the boy's get home. Would you like to join me, my dear?"

She shook her head, "Thank you for the offer, Father. But I think I would do something else. It's like you said, it's best to not dwell on it, remember?"

Proud of her maturity and understanding, he nodded with a smile, "Yes. Well then, I will let you be, Emi."

Nodding, she watched as he left her alone to go back into the dojo. Turning to the television, she grabbed the remote and started watching the Space Heroes marathon that was going on right now. Making Emi giggle that Leo was missing his all-time favorite marathon show.

~Time skip~

A few hours passed after Raph had gone to help their brothers. It was already midnight, close to one in the morning when they had all return. Hearing their shouts and laughter, Emi turned off the tv that was showing the end credits to the show and stood up when she saw them all enter the lair.

She smiled warmly at them, "Welcome home you guys."

They all looked to her and smile, saying their own 'We're home'. Mikey, on the other hand, had run towards her, falling on his knees as he hugged her, burying his head in her stomach, "Emi!"

She gasped at the sudden impact as she hugged the young terrapin back, "Mikey? Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, "No. Just miss you." He then looks up at her, "You're coming with us on all our missions from now on! It's no fun without you!"

Looking deep into the orange terrapin's eyes, she raised an eyebrow, "You called Raph a bloated buffalo didn't you?"

He gasped, "How'd you know?!"

She poked his forehead, "Because I'm psychic. That's why."

Gasping, he stood up, looking at her in amazement, "Does that mean you can read my mind? Can you? Oh! Tell me what I'm thinking right now!"

"You want to beat your video game while starving for some pizza."

He gasped before throwing an arm over her shoulder, hugging her to him, "Guys! Emi's psychic! She totally read my mind!"

The three shook their heads at their gullible baby brother. Once they all settle themselves down on the couches, Emi had them tell her how their mission had gone and after that, they all just started to chat about anything mostly after.

Remembering what happened last night, Donnie had decided to bring it up, "Hey Leo. Are you ever going to tell me what you were doing last night?"

His question caught the other siblings attention and curiosity as they looked at the two. Leo, knowing full well what the brainiac was asking, started to become nervous and embarrassed, "Uh- I… don't know what you mean, Donnie."

"Of course you do. If you didn't, you wouldn't be so nervous."

Intrigued, Raph asked, "What he do, Don?"

Before Leo could stop him, Donnie was already relaying what happened last night, which made the red terrapin bust out laughing really hard. Clutching his stomach, Raph slapped his knee while he talks through his laughter, "Oh-Oh man. I can't-can't believe I missed that! Man, I wish I could've-could've seen it with my own eyes!"

Emi and Mikey, along with Donnie, were totally confused what was going on while Leo's face was beet red in embarrassment. As Raph's laughter could be heard throughout the lair, they didn't notice Splinter had come out from the dojo and is now standing behind them.

They all jumped when he spoke, "It is late. All five of you need to rest. You may continue whatever it is you are all talking about tomorrow."

Nodding to him, they all said "Hai, Sensei" before starting to walk to their respective rooms. When the three younger siblings had gone into their bedroom, closing their doors behind them, Raph, who was still laughing, grabbed a hold of Leo's shoulder.

The blue leader was still embarrassed that Donnie had told their siblings, especially in front of Emi. And listening to Raph's laughing at what he did didn't help with his embarrassment.

A good minute passed until the laughing brother finally stopped, trying to catch his breath as he turns to the blue leader, "I can't believe you actually did that in front of Emi's door. And to actually get caught looking stupid by Donnie."

Grumbling, Leo glares at him, "Yeah, well. You would be too if the girl you like kissed you."

Raph stopped laughing when he heard that. Looking at his brother he asked, "Wait. Hold up. She kiss you? Like literally kissed you or…"

Looking away from him, Leo mumbled, Raph not quite catching any of that.

"What did you say?"

Sighing, Leo spoke a little louder to get the embarrassment done and over with, "She kissed my cheek."

His answer made the red terrapin bust out laughing again, "No way! You jumped in excitement with a stupid face because of that?!"

Cheeks a bit red, Leo glares at him, "Alright. Enough Raph. I'm glad that you're having your fun laughing at me."

Heaving as he tried to catch his breath, Raph stood up straight and put a hand on his shoulder, "Okay. I'm done." He then shrugs and smirks, "And hey, your reaction might not be as stupid if Donnie were to ever get kissed on the cheek by April."

Before Leo could reply, Emi opened her bedroom door, sticking her head out to look at them, "The two of you should really get to sleep. If Father finds out that you guys are really tired tomorrow, you both are going to get the _Randori_."

They both mentally grimaced when she mentioned the _Randori_ and nodded to her, "Alright, Emi. Night."

She smiles at them, "Night. Sweet dreams to the both of you." With that, she closes her door with a click.

Looking at Leo, Raph smirked, "So, you mind reenacting what you did last night in front of Emi's door?"

Glaring at him, Leo shrugs his hand off his shoulder as he walked into his bedroom, "No. I won't so goodnight, Raph." His door clicking closed behind him.

Raph chuckled to himself before going into his bedroom, "Man, revenge for the insults is sweet. Wonder how I'm going to get Donnie next."

 **Not great. But meh-**

 **BYES~!**


	4. Chapter 4

**New Friend, Old Enemy**

A few days have passed since the incident with the videophone and Raph's temper with the man. Sure he gets angry from time to time. But Emi couldn't help but be proud of how he has been handling his anger. It just showed, no matter how little or how much, he had matured from it.

As for the negative feeling that dwells in the back of her mind, it has only grown stronger when she wishes to meditate.

"I don't know what to do about it, Father. No matter how much I push the feeling away, it just keeps coming back to bother me," said Emi, looking downcast. "I just want it to go away."

Concerned for his adopted daughter, he put a hand on her shoulder, "The feeling will never go away, Emi. It will never go until whatever this negative feeling has revealed itself."

She looked up at him, staring into his warm brown eyes, "How can I make it reveal itself?"

Splinter shook his head, "Only time will tell. You just have to be patient my daughter."

Biting her bottom lip, she nodded, "Okay."

He smiled at her acceptance, "For now Emi, how about you go on patrol with your brothers? Get some fresh air."

Emi couldn't help but giggle, "I have been doing that, Father. Mikey will always drag me with them now ever since Raph's episode with that man."

Splinter chuckled along with her, "Yes. I know."

Before she could say more, Mikey slammed the door to the dojo open, catching the two's attention, "Emi! Time to go on patrol!"

Not letting the girl have a choice in saying, he rushed at her and started pulling her with him to meet their brothers at the entrance of the lair. Before she fully left the dojo, Emi waved at Master Splinter with a giggle.

Chuckling, Splinter smiled at the girl's retreating form.

"So, the usual patrol?" asked Emi, once they all climbed up onto the rooftop without being seen.

Leo nodded, "Yup."

Nodding, she grinned as her tail softly wagged behind her, "Alright then." And with that, she left the four behind.

The four terrapin brothers were caught off guard when she suddenly disappeared on them. But hearing her laughter not that far away made them all smile and started following her.

Jumping from one rooftop to another, Emi couldn't help but breathe in the air. The feeling that had been growing in the back of her mind slowly disappearing. Smiling, she looks back at her brothers and saw that they had caught up with her.

Mikey was the first to run next to her, "No fair Emi! You cheated! You got a head start."

She laughed, "No one said that there were rules, Mikey."

He was about to retort but thought for a minute, "Huh, you're right."

While the two were conversing, they didn't notice a certain blue leader running past them until he jumped to another rooftop, "Ha-ha!"

Looking back at the others, they noticed that both Raph and Donnie had run past them too.

"Woo-hoo!" Donnie shouted in glee.

Smiling at one another, both Emi and Mikey started jumping and dodging obstacles that were on the rooftops, catching up with their terrapin brothers.

"Yeah!" Mikey shouted, jumping over to the next rooftop with the white-haired girl.

As they ran, they all notice that the next rooftop to jump to had a huge gap but was lower than the one that they were running on. Not stopping, Donnie started running ahead of them, "Check it out!"

As they all ran to the edge of the roof, the four watch Donnie making it to the other side with a low triple flip before making it the other roof. He ended up rolling before stopping to face back at them with a smug look.

Looking at each other, they all smile and watch Mikey go next as he started running up on the planks that held the water tank and highly flipped to the rooftop that Donnie was on. He slid before raising an arm up at them, "Ha-ha!"

Donnie softly applauded him before looking up at them.

"Top that, Turtle Chumps!" Mikey shouted.

"What? No insult for Emi?" Raph asked with a smirk.

"No, 'cuz I know she can outdo the both of you," Mikey replied with a smug look.

Emi couldn't help but shake her head, a smile shown on her lips, "I'm flattered, but I'm not that great."

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, she looks over to see that it was Leo. He held amusement in his eyes as he raised an eye ridge while the smile never left his lips. His silence genuinely telling her that she always top them.

She huffed, softly punching him on the plastron, "Whatever."

Raph couldn't help but roll his eyes at the two but smirk, "You two gonna get going or what?"

Looking over at him, they smirk back. Leo took his hands off her shoulder as he turned to their still waiting younger brothers, "All right, guys." Taking a couple of steps back, he positioned himself ready to run, "Check this out."

Taking a short run, Leo started to front flip. When he got close to the edge of the rooftop, he pushed himself off with his hands, landing on his feet on the other roof. But he didn't just stop it there. He ended up adding no arm cartwheel, standing next to his younger brothers.

Mikey awed at his eldest brother's move. Once he was done, the three look back up at the last two still on the other rooftop.

The two look at each other, Emi gesturing for Raph to go. Smiling, Raph smirked down at their brothers, "Cute, kiddies." Taking a couple of steps away, he started running and jumped.

The three screamed when they saw that he was going straight for them. With no time to run or dodge, Raph slammed right into the other three, turtle piling each other. Both Raph and Emi started laughing while the other three groan at the sudden tackle.

Getting back up on their feet, Donnie looked down at the still seated Raph, "Hey, what was that? You didn't do any flips."

"Oops," smiled Raph.

While the four were conversing, Emi's ears pricked up when she suddenly thought that she felt a hidden presence. The negative feeling that she has been feeling had come back again. Though it wasn't as strong. Swiveling her ears to listen closely into the hidden shadows, her thoughts were interrupted when Leo shouted for her, "Emi! It's your turn."

Looking down at them, she saw that Raphael had gotten back on his feet and is now patiently waiting for her along with the other three brothers. Listening for any disturbance in the shadow, she couldn't hear any footsteps. Though the feeling of being watched and that small negative feeling not leaving. She decided to put it to the back of her mind to figure out later and turned back to look down at the four.

Smiling, she raised an arm at them, telling them that she was ready to jump. Taking a couple of steps back, she started running. When her feet touched the edge of the rooftop, she jumped high into the night sky.

The four brothers stared in awe at how high she jumped.

As she felt herself descend, Emi started to flip and twirl as if she was in a diving competition.

When she was close to landing on the rooftop, Leo couldn't help but stare. Her white hair glinting under the moon's light as it swayed perfectly around her face at her descent. Her honey golden eyes that shines brightly like the stars. He watched as she landed lightly on her feet in front of them.

Both Mikey and Donnie smiled and started to compliment her while Raph looked at a certain blue turtle at the corner of his eye. He couldn't help but roll his eyes when he saw Leo still looking at Emi with that love awestruck look.

Feeling a hard elbow to the side of his plastron, Leo jumped at the contact and turned to see that Raph was the one to knock him out from his staring. He gratefully smiled at him.

Raph only shrugged and turned his attention back to the three in front of them.

"That was so cool, Emi! You gotta teach me how to do that," Mikey said excitedly.

Smiling, Emi was about to reply until a loud creaking noise was heard. Turning to the sound, Leo was the first to react. He quickly ran and hid behind a wall from where the noise of the direction was from. The other four following closely behind.

Seeing Leo unsheathing his swords, the others followed his action and had quickly yet quietly took out their weapons. Quietly, they waited for a few seconds until their leader started running to confront the enemy. The others not too far behind.

Trying to catch the scent of the enemy, Emi quickly halted in her step when she noticed that she only smelt a cat. She was still hidden behind the wall when she saw all four terrapin brothers stop in their steps, weapons raised.

Putting her twin tessens away, she walked to stand next to Leo to see that her nose was correct. There, sitting on the edge of the rooftop, was a small kitten that meows at them in surprise.

Sheathing his sais away, Raph put a hand on their leader's shoulder, teasing him, "Don't give up, Leo. You might actually win this fight."

Leo glowers at him until he was pushed by Mikey, who had put his nunchucks away, and is now approaching the small black and white kitten.

"Aww! It's a little kitty."

Picking it up, he started to rub the kitten's stomach until he saw the collar on its neck, "And its name is-"

Before he could say it, a man's voice shouted, "Mittens!"

"Good guess," said Mikey. Until he noticed that he didn't recognize the voice, "Wait, who said that?"

All five siblings look down at where the man's voice had come from. They saw him shouting out from one of the apartment windows that were near them, "Mittens?"

"I think that's the owner," said Donnie. Their eyes widen when they saw Mikey quickly getting up from his spot, about to approach the man with the kitten in hand.

"What are you doing?!"

"Whoa!"

"Hey!"

"Mikey, wait!"

Mikey stopped at the edge of the roof, turning to look back at them, "What? I'm returning Mittens to her owner."

"Are you an idiot?" asked Raph. He stopped for a second at what he just asked. "Wait- let me rephrase that. You're an idiot!" he said, pointing at their baby brother.

Shaking her head, Emi turned to look back at Mikey, "You can't show yourself to a human, Mikey."

Confused, he asked, "Why not?"

"Because they'll freak the heck out, that's why not," Donnie answered.

"No, they won't. I'm not so scary," said Mikey, still not getting the picture like the rest of them.

Trying to throw some sense into him, Raph added, "You're an ugly, green mutant armed with ninja weapons."

Used to Raph's insult, Mikey petted the cat, "Look, this guy's gonna see that I'm just a regular, cat-loving dude like him. Next thing you know, we'll be best buds." He then smiled, "This is gonna be awesome!"

He suddenly jumped to the fire escape ladder before anyone of them were able to stop him.

"No!"

"Don't"

"Wait!"

"Mikey!"

"Mittens!" the man called out again.

Emi watched with worry as their energetic, hopeful, baby brother ignored their shouts.

Jumping down to the fire escape, Mikey landed in front of the man, "Hi, here's your-"

Before he could finish his sentence, the man screamed, "Ugly, green mutant freak!"

Frightened that the man might attract attention from others, Mikey quickly tried to calm him down by showing him his cat, "But I got your cat!"

"Help! He's got my cat!"

"Dude, chill! I'm just-"

Mikey didn't get to finish as the man's cat started scowling at him and latched itself onto his face.

"Aah!"

Emi and the three terrapin brothers couldn't help but shake their heads at him while Raph facepalmed. They watched Mikey screamed as he fell down the escape ladder, trying to pull the cat off from his face.

Sighing silently, Emi jumped down from the rooftops. The others following not too far behind.

When they landed in front of him, Mikey was rubbing his head from the fall before looking up at them. Emi held a concern while the other three held a "We-told-you-so" looks. Sadden that they were right, he stood back up onto his feet, "Someone want to help me with this?"

He turned so they could see his shell. There, on the back of it, was the kitten that he tried to return. The black and white kitty was not as calm and nice as it was before. It was now snarling as it was latched onto his shell, scratching it.

"No," the three brothers instantly replied.

Sighing, Emi softly shook her head as she walked up to him, "Here, Mikey."

He turned his shell more towards her while she grabbed onto the kitty, cooing, "Now, now, Mittens. Let's go return you back to your owner."

Feeling the calm aura and soft hands from the white-haired girl, Mittens calmed and let go of Mikey's shell. It hissed at him one last time before purring in Emi's arms.

She smiled down at the purring animal before looking back up at the still open window of the owner. Looking at the terrapin brothers, she gestured, "Give me a minute?" Without waiting for their reply, she quickly and quietly climbed up the fire escape.

Hidden in the shadows, she made it to the window and put the kitten back on its feet on the windowsill. The kitten turned around to meow at her. Smiling, she pets the little animal one last time before hiding more within the shadows when she saw the man come back in a rush.

"Oh, Mittens! You haven't been eaten! Thank goodness for that."

The man looked outside for any more unwanted guests before quickly shutting the window behind him, his cat in hands.

Once Emi saw that it was safe, she jumped from the fire escape and back down to the others. Mikey was still sad when she came back. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him because she knew where he was coming from.

All their life, they have been isolated to not be seen by humans and only had each other. So to have a friend that is not just your family members, will be kind of nice since you will be able to share interest and non-interest with each other.

Smiling in sympathy, she patted Mikey on the shell until Raph spoke, "Face it. Humans will never understand you. Heck, we don't even understand you."

She narrowed her eyes at the red terrapin, "Raph."

He shrugged, "Okay. Everyone but Emi, don't understand you."

Emi rolled her eyes at him before focusing her attention back on Mikey when he sighed, "Yeah."

Rubbing the back of his shell, she hoped that her baby brother would feel better until he suddenly gasps, "But I bet that guy would!"

Wondering who he was talking about, Emi looked up at where he was looking at and saw a billboard advertisement of Chris Bradford, a famous martial artist, an expo that was happening in town for the week.

She raised an eyebrow, "Chris Bradford? The martial art superstar?"

"With a chain of dojos across the country. He's your soulmate?" Leonardo finished for her.

Facing them, Mikey spun his nunchucks before posing just like the man in the billboard, "We've got so much in common."

"What if you stop standing like that?" Donnie sarcastically asked, making the white-haired girl giggle a bit.

While the youngest terrapin talked, Emi, who now held a small smile, had moved away from him and stood next to Leo, who gave her a small smile before focusing back to their baby brother.

"We'll have a little less in common," he said deflatedly but quickly brighten back up and turned to the billboard. "But still a lot. And look, he's in town for a martial arts expo."

The brothers couldn't help but roll their eyes at their gullible, hopeful, baby brother.

Mikey then turned back to them, "Maybe he'll show me his secret kata, the Death Dragon. And I'll show him my secret kata, the Secret Kata," he said the last dramatically.

"Catchy," Donnie said unimpressed.

"Check it out," said Mikey. He then started throwing punches and kicks with some kind of weird robot dance in the end. Once he was done, he quietly whispered to them, "But don't tell anyone you saw that."

Emi couldn't help but blink in embarrassment as Leo replied, "No problem."

Shaking his head, Raph walked up to their little brother, "Face it, Mikey. Chris Bradford is the last person on earth that would be friends with you."

Mikey glower at him, looking away when his hot-tempered brother said that.

"Well, tied for last, with everyone else on earth."

Hearing a silent but distinct pebble being kicked, Emi's ears perked up when a couple of human scents hit her nose. She quickly gets into a defensive stance, her hands hovering over her tessens.

It seems the others caught on quickly when they saw her action. Getting into defensive stances, they looked up when they saw a couple of ninja's; in black ninja outfits with headbands that have a symbol of a foot, climbing down from the apartment rooftops. Emi quickly turned around when she heard a couple of them land behind them.

"Ninja's? In New York?" asked Donnie, looking around at how many surrounded them. "Other than us?"

The ninja's all started pulling their weapons out, making the others to do the same.

It was a quiet stand-off between the two groups. Wondering who would make the first move. A minute passed until one of the ninja's decided to throw shurikens at them. The stars lodging into Donnie's wooden staff. Narrowing their eyes at the new enemies, they waited and watched as the ninjas ran towards them.

Dodging a swung katana aiming downwards at her, Emi spun lightly on her feet and roundhouse kicked the ninja away from her. Her ear twitch when she heard a blade being swung at her from behind. Taking both tessens out from her obi, she brought them up above her head, stopping it from cutting her in half.

Looking behind her, she saw the ninja that was holding the weapon. It was a naginata that they held. Narrowing her eyes at them, Emi pushed the blade away and disappear from the ninja's view. Confused at where she went, they quickly looked around them until they felt an immense pain from their abdomen. Looking down, they saw the top of the back of her head. She had back elbow them, hard, in the stomach with her back close to their chest.

Emi moved away from the ninja when she felt them start to fall forward.

Hearing sharp whistles in the air coming straight for her, Emi opened her tessens and blocked every shuriken and kunais that were thrown at her. Another presence was felt behind her again as she blocked a sword in front of her. Gritting her teeth, she pushed the sword away and backflipped over the ninja behind her who tried to jab their sword at her. She landed on top of them, using most of her weight, making them fall flat on their front. Pushing herself off, Emi brought her tessens up in front of her as she came back to shell with both Leonardo and Raphael.

"Why are you so happy?" Raph asked, blocking a sword from cutting him in half.

Curious, Emi looked from her peripheral vision and saw that he was right. Leo was smiling happily while fending off the ninja's.

Kicking one of the ninja's away before having to block more swords, Leo happily replied, "It's just nice to finally be fighting people, instead of robots, or aliens, or weed-monsters."

Slapping the blade of the naginata away with her tessen, Emi grabbed onto the staff and pulled it towards her. Pulling the ninja who was holding onto it with it. When they got close to her, she kicked them away, releasing their hold on the weapon. She threw the weapon away when another, bigger, ninja entered the battle.

This ninja caught her attention instantly. They were wearing different ninja outfit from the rest that they have been fighting so far. But it wasn't their outfit that caught her attention. Rather, the intimidating aura that was coming from him.

The negative feeling that she has been pushing in the back of her mind soon came back. Making itself known by spreading quickly throughout every part of her body. Her body becoming numb by how cold it felt. Emi was quickly snapped out of it when she saw the newcomer punch Leo, sending him flying at the brick wall, and kicking Raph towards the younger terrapin brothers.

She gasped, "Leo! Raph!"

The newcomer was a lot faster than the others from before. After taking Raph down, he went after the other two. Donnie ran up to vault over them, but the enemy grabbed his staff and back-handed him with it, sending the purple terrapin slamming into the wall.

Emi's eyes widen at how easily this guy was taking down the others. Hearing a click, she quickly turned her head to see Mikey throwing his bladed Kusarigama at the enemy, only for them to grab it, pulling Mikey straight towards them.

"Mikey!"

"What are you?" the enemy asked.

They never got an answer as a kick was delivered to their head, letting go of the weapon and Mikey. The enemy grunted, holding onto the side of their helmet. Growling, they turned towards the person who was responsible for kicking him. Their eyes widen when they saw that it was a girl with dog features who was the one responsible.

Emi's golden eyes shined within the moonlight, glaring at the enemy as she took a defensive position, tessens out on each side of her. The others taking up on both sides of her, weapons drawn.

Before they could fight some more, wailing of police sirens were heard loud and clear. The enemies looked at each other before leaving. Putting her weapons away, Emi looked at both Leo and Raph. A silent agreement between the three of them to retreat and go back home for the night. They all nodded to one another and started leaving, hiding within the shadow as they went towards the closest manhole.

It didn't take them long to get back to the lair. The others separating ways to think about what just happen.

Emi went into the kitchen, getting herself a glass of water as she sat on a stool. Lips pursed, her eyes narrow at the table in front of her as she thought back to the enemies.

The ninja's were good. Especially their teamwork. Unlike them when the boys first started learning to fight together, these enemies helped each other flawlessly. Not once did they get in each other's way.

And then, there were the negative feelings that have been bothering her all week. Not once has it ever been as bad as it did during the fight when that newcomer appeared. The coldness that came from it. Spreading like a wildfire within every limb of her body. It… frightened her.

She didn't get to think for long until both Leonardo and Splinter entered the room.

"There were so many of them Sensei. They just came out of nowhere and surrounded us. If it weren't for Emi, we would've been caught by surprise."

Looking up at the two, Emi watch as Leo walked to stand in front of her on the other side of the table while their father put something away in the cabinet next to the stove. Splinter closed the cabinet door before putting his full attention on his eldest son.

"And their leader was crazy good, by which I mean he was good and seemed a little crazy. Besides, he had all these guys with him. It-it wasn't a fair fight," said Leo, looking down at his hands on the table.

Emi and Splinter exchanged a raised brow before looking back at Leo.

"What do you mean, "fair fight"?" Emi asked.

Leo looked at her, "A fair fight, you know, where either side could win?"

He turned to face their father when he spoke up, "So a fair fight is a fight you could lose."

Intimidated by their father's tone and afraid that he might have said something wrong, Leo nervously explained, "Well, yes, but- What, I- What I mean is-"

Splinter interrupted him, "You don't want to assure your victory."

"No, I do, but-"

Leo never got the chance to explain himself before getting tripped by their father.

"Ow! Hey!"

Splinter stopped him from getting up by holding him down with his staff up to his neck, slightly choking him.

"Was that fair?"

"No!"

"Did I win?"

Emi's giggling could be heard, making Leo blush in embarrassment, "I see your point."

"Seek victory, not fairness," said Splinter, before getting off of him.

It took Leo a second before he realized what their sensei was trying to teach, " _Hai_ , sensei."

He grabbed the offered hand that was given to him by their father and was pulled back up to stand on his feet. As their father left the kitchen, Emi went up to Leo, patting him on the back of his shell. She smiled at him, trying to cheer him up, "You alright?"

Looking at her, he smiled, "Yeah."

"Emi."

They both looked over to their Sensei. He gestured for her to follow him, "I wish to speak to you my daughter."

Wondering what he would wish to speak to her about, Emi left Leo's side and followed their father into the dojo. She stepped into the room as Splinter closed the door behind them.

"Please sit, Emi."

Doing as he requested, she walked to sit near the dojo's tree, kneeling as she watched him do the same from across her. It was quiet between the two until he broke it, "Something seems to be bothering you, my dear."

Her eyes widen at him, surprise that he noticed, "How did you know, Father?"

"From your expression before Leonardo and I have walked into the kitchen."

She looked down at her hands, knowing fully well that their father will notice. Even when it is just a minor problem or just a slight out of character from them, he would and could always tell that something was bothering them

Sighing, she looks back up at him, "It happened…"

Splinter raised an eyebrow, knowing full well what she was talking about and wish for her to continue.

"During our encounter with this new enemy, the feeling came back. This time though… it wasn't just a minor thing in the back of my mind. Rather, it spread itself throughout my entire being…"

She trailed off, still playing what happened in her mind.

"What did it feel like, Emi?"

"It… felt cold… Like death was near."

Running a hand on his goatee, Splinter couldn't help but worry. This was the very first ominous feeling that has ever happen to them before. Especially since it is Emi, who has more connection to the universe than he did. When she had first started living with them, he would notice how well in tune she is to the aura's around her. He remembered how when something was bothering one of the boys, she would be there for them, trying her best to reassure them or just be there by their side. There was also another time when they went scavenging, Emi would either feel or detect something before even he could.

So to just simply ignore this feeling of hers… He knew he could not put it aside. Yet, there was nothing they could do about it.

Sighing, he put a hand on her shoulder, "If my thoughts are correct, and it does have something to do with the foot clan. Then I am very much worried for you and your brothers when you do encounter Shredder."

Her eyes widened, "You think it might have something to do with Shredder?"

Putting a hand on her chin, she started thinking out loud, "Now that you mention it, this feeling was just a mere minor before the foot ninja's appeared. But now that they're here…"

She stopped talking when she felt her father's hand squeezed her shoulder, "Do not dwell on it, Emi. For now, go and be with your brothers. I even hear April in the living room."

Sighing, she smiled up at him, "Okay, Father. I'll do as you wish."

Standing back up on their feet, Emi bowed respectfully before leaving the dojo.

When she left, Splinter couldn't help but sigh in worry. He just hopes that his children will be alright.

Appearing in the living room, Emi looked around. Raph was doing his usual daily push-ups, April was reading the newspaper, Donnie on his laptop doing whatever it is that he is looking up, and last but not least was Mikey. He was sitting on the bean bag chair looking through a martial arts magazine that was only dedicated to Chris Bradford.

Smiling, she giggled as she walked over to where her red terrapin brother was doing push-ups and instantly sat comfortably on his shell. Raph grunted at the added weight, but continue on his exercise. He smirked, used to Emi doing this to him sometime.

Their attention was soon taken when Mikey started fanboying about Chris Bradford.

"Whoa, that's rad! Oh, I wish me and Chris Bradford were friends!" he said before nom-ing on the magazine, laughing.

Criss-crossing her legs, Emi put her chin on her hand as she smiles at their happy baby brother.

"Mikey, you already have a human friend," said April, putting down the newspaper.

Mikey looked up at April from his magazine, blinking. He didn't know who she was talking about until she answered him.

"Me!"

He looked away from her, back to his magazine, "April, you don't count. We saved your life, you have to like us."

Still doing his push-ups, Raph grunted, "Too bad there's no place for freaks to meet people when no one can see how hideous they are."

Mikey glared at his magazine offended by his older brother's comment. Emi pouted at him, "Don't be mean Raph."

The red terrapin chuckle at her, knowing that she knew that he was right.

Instantly realizing the solution thanks to Raph's comment, April exclaimed happily, "Wait, there is- The internet!" She turned to the smart-aleck sibling, "Donnie, can I see your laptop?"

"Uh, y- Uh, sure! Just a sec," said Donnie, quickly clicking a button on his laptop before handing it over, sitting next to her.

Grabbing the laptop, April pulled up a website and started typing, "Check it out, it's a site where you can make friends with anybody online."

Her words piqued Emi's interest as her ears perked up, tails swishing, "Really? I wanna see!"

"Sweet!" Mikey exclaimed, booty bumping April over as Emi ran over to sit on his other side, curious at how the site works. She watches as Mikey quickly makes his profile before looking up his idol's name. When he found it, Mikey hugged the laptop to him, "Ohh, Chris Bradford's on here! He'll be my first friend!"

They watched as he added him. "Mikey, people don't always respond immed-" April was cut off when the laptop ding. Letting them know that Mikey's friend request was accepted. "But sometimes they do

Bubbling with excitement, Mikey exclaimed, "No way! Chris Bradford has accepted my friendship! I have a friend! Thanks, April!"

Donnie looked in disbelief and jealousy when he saw his baby brother hugged his crush as if it was nothing until he noticed that the excitable turtle wasn't holding his laptop anymore. Not seeing it anywhere near them, he looked up and quickly caught it before it could be broken into scraps on the floor. "Hey!"

Watching Mikey getting up from the couch, Emi frowned in curiosity, "Where are you going?"

"To hang out with my _friend, Chris Bradford_."

"This guy's famous. He probably has thousands of "Friends," said April, trying not to hurt the young turtle's feelings and rising hope.

Not deterred by her words, Mikey stopped by the entrance of the lair and turned back to them, "And guess who's number 5,286?"

"You?"

"Daniel Ramirez! And I'm right next to him. Later!" Mikey saluted before he jumped over the turnstile, running out of the lair.

They all watched as he left. Emi, a bit worried about what Chris Bradford might do to her baby brother.

"Well, this ought to be interesting," said April.

Everyone looked at Donnie when he asked, "Should we go after him?"

"Eh, he's gotta learn somehow," said Raph, stopping in the middle of his push-ups.

Emi walked over to him, softly smacking him on his shell, "Be nice."

He smirked at her, "Hey, I'm just saying the truth lil' sister."

Hopping back on his shell, she sat back on him, pouting, "I know. But there's no need to be mean about it."

She squeaked, falling on her butt when Raph moved her off. Rubbing her behind, Emi was about to tell him to warn her next time when he was about to get up until she was pushed forward onto her front side. Groaning, she was about to get up until Raph heavily laid himself on her back.

"Raph!" Emi whined, her arms stretched out in front of her as she slaps the floor. "Get off! You're heavy!"

"Not until you say, 'Raph is the greatest turtle brother ever'," said Raph, smirking as he has his fun laying on Emi.

Struggling, Emi groaned, "Never!"

With a growing smirk, Raph quickly flipped both himself and Emi so he was straddling her on her hips. He brought his hands near her waist, where he knew was where her greatest weakness was.

"You better. Or else, I just might torture you."

Her eyes widened, "You wouldn't."

"Oh, I think I would."

Before she could say anymore, Emi squealed in laughter when Raph started tickling her.

"No! Stop Raphael!"

Raph couldn't help but chuckle along with her. Her laughter was contagious.

"Not until you say it, Emi."

Laughing while trying her best to push his hands away, Emi breathlessly asked for the other two that was still in the room, "Donnie! April! Help me… please!"

The two, who had been asked, were watching them in amusement.

"No can do, Emi. I don't think I want to be Raph's next victim," said April, giggling when she saw the silver-haired girl weakly slap the red-terrapin's face.

Donnie chuckled, "I agree with April there, Emi. Sorry."

"Traitors!" Emi laughed.

Raph started laughing when he saw her face starting to go red. Their fun and laughter was soon over when they heard someone loudly clearing their throat. Stopping his torture on his poor little sister, everyone turned to look to see the eldest turtle brother standing just a couple of feet away from the laughing two.

Gasping for breath, Emi groaned as she flopped her tired arms onto the ground, "Oh thank goodness. Leo saved me."

While she was gasping for air from all the laughter, Emi didn't see the jealous and angry look that Leo was sending to Raph. Jealous because his brother, whom he knew he could confide in, was straddling on top of the girl whom he liked for years.

Rolling his eyes, Raph got off of their little sister, helping her back up onto her feet.

Emi smiled up at him before turning to Leonardo, " Hey, Leo." Her smile disappeared when she saw his frown. Concern, she asked, "Are you okay?"

Looking away from Raph, he smiled at her, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay," she said, nodding.

She knew he wasn't telling the truth but accepted it anyway. She'll wait when he thinks he is ready to tell her.

Raph started walking away, rolling his eyes, when he sees Leo walking to stand next to Emi.

April and Donnie couldn't help but watch between the three, feeling awkward yet confused about what was going on.

? ﾟﾐﾢ?

It was the next night as they were on patrol again. Leo had led them back onto the rooftops, looking down in the alleyway where they were ambushed yesterday.

Emi stood next to Leo and Donnie, looking into the alleyway with them.

"They must have been watching us from here. The perfect place to stage an ambush," said Leo.

Donnie looked at him, "It wasn't very fair, was it?"

"It's not about fairness. It's about victory," Leo said pugnaciously.

Donnie raised his hands defensively, not wanting to argue with the blue leader, "Okay, I'm sorry."

Frowning, Emi put a hand on Leo's shoulder, calming him just a bit.

They look back over their shoulders when they heard Mikey's voice. Still talking about his day with Chris Bradford.

"And then- and then Chris Bradford put on his hakama. Man, that guy can rock a hakama!"

Running his hand down his face, Raph irritatedly looked at their baby brother and sarcastically said, "Yeah, maybe he'll wear it again when he takes you to the prom."

Mikey ignored him as he walked up to the three who were still at the edge of the rooftop, "And then after that, he-"

He was interrupted when Raph had enough of their brother's enthusiastic day with his new friend, "Oh, enough! You've been going on about this for three hours."

"Ooh, someone sounds jealous," said Mikey, getting up close to Raph's face. "You just can't admit that you were the "R" word."

They all blinked. Wondering what R-word he was talking about.

"Rong."

Leo and Donnie couldn't help but groan at their baby brother's ineptitude of his spelling. While Emi softly chuckled at his misspelling of the word.

Scoffing, Raph argues back, "I'm not wrong."

"Oh, yeah? If you don't want to talk about my friend-" Stopping in the middle of his sentence, Mikey backflips away from him to the other three that decided to ignore the two. He grabbed the two brothers by the shoulder, "I've got two other brothers who do."

Leo pulled himself away, "Actually, I'd rather talk about anything else."

"Like the concept of the silent "W," perhaps?" said Donnie, making the two to give him a deadpan look.

Hmphing, Mikey walked away from the two to hug Emi, "Well, since you two don't want to… I got the greatest sister who will."

He stuck his tongue out at his brothers while Emi gave a nervous smile, scratching her cheek, "Uh, sorry Mikey. But I have to agree with Leo. It's nice that you have finally made a human friend, but-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence when Mikey pushed himself away from her with a frown, "Fine. Heh, I'll go talk to a guy who likes to talk about Chris Bradford more than anyone _else_." Cupping a hand by the side of his mouth, he loudly whispered, "Chris Bradford."

The two brothers moved when Mikey jumped away from them, leaving his siblings to go to his human best friend. Frowning, Emi walked to stand next to the two, "You think we should follow just in case Chris Bradford hurts him?"

Leo grabbed her hand in his, squeezing it in reassurance, "He'll be fine, Emi."

"Leo's right. Mikey only learns when he experiences it," said Raph, walking to stand on her other side, his arms crossed in front of him.

Sighing, she nodded, "I guess you're right."

Emi was meditating in the dojo the next day. Though Leo and Raph both said not to worry about Mikey, she just couldn't help but do just that. Michaelangelo was their baby brother. The one who made everyone smile even though he irritates his brothers sometimes. If something were to happen to him, or to either of them, she knew that the family will never be the same.

She was brought out of her worrying when a presence made themselves known by sitting next to her. Opening her eyes, she saw that it was Leo. He was looking at her with a sheepish smile, "I didn't distract did I?"

She giggled, "Nope. You did the exact opposite for me."

He was confused a bit by what she meant until he finally understood. Smiling, he put a hand on her head, "Glad I could help."

She giggled before Mikey's shout rang throughout the entire lair.

"Guys! You can't believe what Chris Bradford showed me!"

Curious, the two got up and was about to leave the dojo until they saw Mikey dragging their other two brothers into the room. Raph held an irritation look while Donnie was frowning.

Once the two were in the room, Raph ripped his arm away from his baby brother's grasp and went to lean on the dojo's tree while they all watched Mikey excitedly demonstrate the Death Dragon kata to them.

"And then he kicks, twists, and sweeps the leg," said Mikey, finishing the kata with a low sweep. "Ha! The Death Dragon."

"That was amazing!" Leo exclaimed in excitement.

Emi nodded, agreeing with the blue leader.

"Yeah, it's devastatingly effective and complex," said Donnie.

"And yet even Mikey could learn it," said Raph, making everyone look at him.

They turn back to Mikey when he bowed, "Thank you." Emi giggled, waiting until he finally caught on.

"Hey!"

Their attention was quickly taken when they heard a beep from Donnie's laptop that somehow magically appeared there. Emi tilted her head in confusion, flopping her ears. That seemed to have caught Leo's attention who blushed at the action. He turned his attention back to Mikey when he rushed over to the laptop.

"It's Rad-Brad! That's my little name for him."

While Mikey was checking his message, Leo felt a poke on his arm. Looking to see who it was, he saw that it was Emi who had tried to gain his attention. She still had that confused look when she looked at him, "When did Donnie's laptop get there?"

Looking over at the laptop that Mikey was still messing around with, he turns back to her and shrugs, "Dunno."

They turn their attention back to the orange terrapin when he spoke, "He wants to get together for a little B-ball. Can't wait to find out what the "B" stands for!" Licking his finger, he pressed the enter button to send his message.

They all looked at him when he started leaving.

"You're going now?" asked Leo.

"Sorry, dudes and dudette, human friend stuff. You know how it is," was all Mikey said before leaving. But stuck his head back in, "Oh, wait. No, you don't."

They all watch him chuckle and walk away with a deadpan look.

Sighing, Emi shook her head before looking at the three who were still in the room, "So. Who's trying out the technique first?"

Leo smiled instantly, "I will!"

Raph frowned at him, "Why do you get to try it out first?"

Before the two could start arguing, Emi quickly intervened, "Come on, no arguing. We'll all get our share turn on trying it out."

Not wanting to upset her, they both nodded and started to get in position. Leo started out the technique first while Raph put his arms up to defend himself. Emi and Donnie had decided to stand at the sides, watching them as they practiced it.

Sweeping his leg, Leo wasn't able to catch Raph off guard as he jumped over his swept leg. Frowning a bit at his failed attempt, he mumbled to himself, "Not quite."

Thinking about what he did wrong, he smiled as he brought his hand up, "Wait, I think I got it."

Trying it out once more, Emi looked up when she saw Master Splinter walking up to stand next to her. She frowned in concern when she saw his eyes widen when Leo had finally perfected the technique.

She jumped when their father demanded harshly, "Where did you learn that?"

Helping Raph up from the floor, Leo answered, "Mikey learned it from his new friend."

"The man who taught him that kata is no friend! It comes from the Shredder."

"Shredder?" Donnie spoke in alarm.

They all stiffened in alarm, looking at one another before looking back at Splinter.

"You mean Bradford is one of his students?" asked Leo in disbelief.

"He must be."

"So Bradford's just pretending to be Mikey's friend to get to you."

Putting a hand on his head, Raph groan in relief, "Ohh, what a relief! Everything makes sense again."

Pouting, Emi walked over to jab Raph in the plastron, "Raph!"

Raph rubbed his plastron with a frown, "What?"

"It means Mikey's in trouble!"

It took him a second to realize her words until he freaked out, "Mikey's in trouble!"

She couldn't help but facepalmed, muttering, "I just said that."

After creating a plan and getting their things ready, all four siblings left the lair to save their brother from their now known enemy.

Leaping through the rooftops, it didn't take them long to arrive at the rooftop of Bradford's dojo. Landing next to the two older brothers, Emi muffles her giggle when she saw the two twinkle fingertips. They smiled, pulling her to them so they can wrap an arm around her shoulders. She rolled her eyes at them until they all turned to Donnie.

He was chewing a piece of gum, which he was taking too long to chew on. Raph gestured a "hurry up" to him. Complying, Donnie decided to blow a bubble first, popping, and grab the gum out of his mouth. He put the gum at the tip of the pencil on his pencil compass and started carving a hand size circle onto the rooftop window. Popping it off, he started to unlatch the lock to unlock the roof window.

Once it's unlocked, Leo opened it as the four of them ready their ropes, throwing it down. Descending undetected, they unsheathed their weapons when they saw foot ninjas throughout the room. They quickly took care of the enemies quietly and swiftly as they made their way to a tied up Mikey.

Raph kicked the last foot ninja, who was guarding their baby brother, in the head. Looking at the down foot ninja, Mikey looked at them, shouting in amazement, "Dudes! That was sporadic!"

Both Raph and Leo shushed him while Donnie facepalmed at their baby brother's use of the vocabulary.

"That's not what that means!" Donnie whispered.

Shaking her head, Emi took a dagger out and cut the rope off of Mikey. She patted him on the head when he sat up.

Smiling, Mikey hugged her tightly to him, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Leo frowned a bit at the action but soon focused back at the mission at hand. Helping Mikey up from the floor, all five siblings quickly went to climbed back up on their ropes to the rooftops, taking their ropes with them, and started leaving the building.

As they ran, Emi's ears swivel behind her, hearing rushing footsteps. She looked at Leo, nodding to him that everything was going according to plan. Nodding back, he nodded to the other three. They all nodded back, understanding the plan right away.

Rushing to the nearest manhole, they uncovered it before rushing in, closing it behind them.

Leo looked to them, "Everyone knows the plan?"

They all nodded besides Mikey, "Ooh! What plan?"

Sighing, they all shook their head while Emi just put a hand on his shoulder, smiling, "Just follow what we do okay?"

"Got it!"

They all became quiet when they heard the manhole cover above them start to move. Leo quickly giving them the signal to move. They all dispersed and disappear into the shadows of the sewers. Quietly, they watched and followed the foot ninja's as they walked deeper into the sewers.

One by one, they started grabbing the lackeys, knocking them out. The siblings dragged them with them as they quietly followed Chris Bradford, a dark-skinned man, and the last two foot ninja lackeys to the huge sewer open area.

The brother's all threw their captured lackeys to Emi, who caught them flawlessly, tying them on the sewer pipes above. She left them hanging as some quietly groaned in pain.

Emi quickly hid in the shadow above when the dark-skinned man ignited a flare. She quietly watched as he and Chris Bradford's eyes widen at seeing their men.

"Show your face!" the dark-skinned man shouted.

Doing as he demanded, both Leo and Raph swam out of the sewer waters while the other two revealed themselves from behind. Emi, following their lead, stood herself straight and proud above them as she looked down at the last two remaining enemies.

Looking around them, the dark-skinned man shouted in alarm, "They've trapped us!"

Seeing as how there was nothing else they can do, Chris Bradford commanded, "Take 'em down!"

Emi jumped down from the pipes when she saw Bradford throw Raph at Leo. Taking a stance next to the two, she took her tessens out as they charged at the man.

Raph ran, trying to punch the martial artist with his sais. But every time, Bradford would dodge them, barely getting a scratch on himself. Raph wasn't able to dodge in time when Bradford punched him hard on the jaw. Shocked, Leo ran and leaped with his swords ready to slice the man. Unfortunately, Bradford was able to catch the bladed weapon with his fingers, kicking the blue leader away.

Emi quickly put her tessen away, catching Leo when he landed within her arms. However, she didn't expect how much power there was in the kick so Leo had toppled her over, landing on top of her. Hissing at how hard her head had slammed on the concrete, she opened her eyes just to look into a pair of dark blue eyes.

Leo blushed at how close their proximity was until he was pulled off by Raph.

"You can stare into her eyes later! We still got some business to finish!"

Focusing back to the battle at hand, both Leo and Emi got back on their feet. The three heard a snap. Looking over to their younger brother's, they saw that it was Donnie who had snapped his fingers. Understanding what he wanted, they all started to dodge the enemies attack while running backward.

Once they met in the middle, the two enemies didn't notice that they had switched opponents. But it would seem they didn't care as they kept attacking them.

Taking care of the dark-skinned man, Raph tripped him from behind as both Leo and Emi kicked him on the chest, making him skid on the concrete. They started to make the two back up, intimidated by being outnumbered by them.

"They knew we were following them," said Chris Bradford, keeping his eyes on Mikey.

"That's right," Mikey replied.

As Bradford started to throw a punch, Mikey ended up using the Death Dragon on him. Smiling at him being able to take down his ex-friend along with the dark-skinned man, Emi ran over to the sewer valve. Just when she touched it, another hand grabbed it on the other side. Looking up, she smiled when she saw that it was Leo.

They looked back over at Mikey when he shouted, "Hit it!"

Hearing the cue, they turned the valve together. The sound of the sewer rushing water could be heard loud and clear. Looking over, they heard both males yell as a large amount of sewage water swept them away down the system.

"Well, that didn't seem very fair," said Raph, smiling at their demise.

Walking up to them, Leo replied, "No, it wasn't."

They all laughed until Mikey shouted, "High three!"

Smiling, they all high three's each other. Except for Emi who gave them a five.

Emi was drinking tea next to Master Splinter, who was deep in thought, while the turtle brothers all ate pizza. Taking a sip, her attention was turned to Donnie when he spoke, "Um, sensei, aren't you hungry?"

Running a hand on his goatee, their father replied what was on his mind, "I fear we are celebrating too soon."

"Too soon? The bad guys were swept away in a river of raw sewage. By my watch, that makes it the perfect time," said Raph, smiling at their accomplishments.

"Shredder knows I'm alive," said Master Splinter, getting up from his seat to stand in front of his sons while still being able to look at Emi. His words brought a strong feeling of concern and worried for Emi. "And worse, he knows about all of you."

This made them all look at each other.

"It's my worst nightmare come true."

"So it's not over?" asked Leo.

"Oh, no. It's just beginning."

This news brought everyone's spirit down as they finally grasp a bit of how dangerous their encounter with the foot ninja has just gotten.

Splinter returned back to his seat next to Emi. When he saw the deep in thought look on her face, he quietly spoke to her, "Emi."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Emi looked up to her adopted father, who was looking down at her intensely. Straightening her back, she quietly replied, "Father. Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, "I know that Leonardo is the leader among your team."

Confused at where he was getting at, she frowned, "Yes?"

"I wish you to take care of them. If Shredder were to ever appear, I know that you will be able to get everyone, including yourself, out of there."

With a nod, she promised, "I promise, Father. I will never let anything happen to my brothers. I swear on my life as a Kunoichi. But most importantly as a daughter, a sister, and a friend."

Nodding, he sighed sadly, "Just please, come back to me in one piece."

Smiling, she looked over at the four brothers who had decided to eat a new box of pizza and is now chatting with each other.

"I promise, Hamato Yoshi. That we will _all_ come back in one piece."


End file.
